Cameras can paint a bright future

New figures showing a spike in the number of speeding tickets handed out by police last year will do nothing to silence those critics who claim the fines are nothing more than a revenue-gathering device.

On Friday, the Bay of Plenty Times reported that in 2010, police handed out 627,948 tickets for speeding infringements, compared to 329,838 in 2009.

The 2010 figure was more than 200,000 above the four-year average for tickets issued, which tends to suggest a particular surge in that year, rather than a slow and steady climb in the number of tickets issued over the preceding years.

The revenue-gathering argument is a flawed one, and it's a theory normally trotted out by disgruntled motorists who have themselves just been pulled over, or snapped by a speed camera.

There is some merit in the points put forward by national road policing manager Superintendent Paula Rose, who as well as dismissing fears that the tickets were simply a way of bringing in money, pointed out that the increased number of issued tickets could have been affected by the reduction in police tolerance for speeding during holiday periods, as well as the introduction of new digital speed cameras.

That said, it may still be stretching it slightly to suggest that those measures, coupled with better targeting of specific risk areas, are enough to account entirely for the jump. Ms Rose also points out that many tickets did not cover the administrative costs of issuing the fines, a valid riposte to accusations of a revenue-gathering motive.

But those claims might be mitigated, to some extent, were the police to adopt the suggestion put forward by AA road safety spokesman Mike Noon, who advocates painting fixed cameras brightly and signposting the areas where they are operating.

By making it clear that a speed camera was operating nearby, drivers would slow down, and surely that's the point - improving driver behaviour.

Removing the suggestion that our country's speed cameras are hidden in the back of unmarked vehicles and tucked away covertly on the roadside would also serve to help counter the suggestion that their purpose is to "catch" motorists. But most importantly, our annual road toll is dropping.

The drop cannot be attributed to one sole factor, and certainly not to the presence of speed cameras alone.

But there can be little doubt that the speed cameras, coupled with increased police vigilance over speeding motorists, is making a positive difference. That's what should matter.