Further emphasis has been thrown onto ensuring that drivers obtain full car insurance as well as complete UK breakdown cover by new cuts to the UK’s speed camera budget – cuts that Gwent Chief Constable Mick Giannasi has attacked, stating that they would have ‘unintended consequences for road safety.’

Mr Giannasi, who is Britain’s chief traffic policeman, noted that the cuts – which amount to over £38 million – would put the UK’s road safety back years and put lives at risk.  As well as this, he observed that the new policy could render four out of five of the UK’s speed cameras obsolete within the next five years.

Speaking to the Guardian, Giannasi stated that ‘The evidence is there is a significant deterrent effect to cameras, both specific at the location, and also generally because people are concerned about being caught speeding. If there is less enforcement, and nothing else replaces it, then there is a risk that the progress we have made will be lost.’  The feeling is that the cut in speed cameras will inevitably lead to more accidents and an increase in the price of both insurance premiums and UK breakdown cover.

There are currently approximately 6,000 speed cameras the operating costs of which are met by local councils at a cost of roughly £5,000 each.  Because of the cuts, local councils have had to consider stopping the use of the cameras – in the case of Oxfordshire, they already have.  Other councils are looking at preventative measures such as education and the employment of local, volunteer-lead speed teams.

The AA has called for the Department of Transport to review the cuts, noting that they could potentially make certain road areas a ‘free for all.’

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