Speed cameras make drivers miss real hazards

12:41pm Friday 15th August 2008

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IN bringing up the issue of the hounding of the motorist, I will inevitably provoke the "Well if you don't want to get caught, then don't break the law" response from the ranks of the righteous.

But - to save them writing in - I will tell myself that, okay?

But - when I started driving, many moons, suns and galaxies ago, there were just two speed limits - 30 mph in built-up areas and whatever you liked really everywhere else.

There weren't signs every two yards changing the speed limit or warning you about bus lanes, cameras, freeways, congestion zones etc.

Most of us drove well enough back then and did so by reference to the road conditions and common sense.

Yes, there is much more traffic on the roads now, but do we really need the profusion of road traffic signs that now clog up our roads?

Come on admit it - how many of you, after seeing a speed camera on the roadside ahead, have desperately looked in every direction to check the speed limit and slowed down to 30 just in case, only to discover the limit is actually 50, after you have passed the cash-generating yellow box?

Driving is now comparable to a computer game, where you have to pick up information every few seconds in order to avoid falling foul of the law.

Take bus lanes. You see a sign indicating a bus lane is ahead.

Then, travelling at 30mph and keeping an eye on the road, you have to find the sign that tells you the times of this particular bus lane.

Because if, unsure of the finer detail, you sit in the outside line to avoid the risk of prosecution, you will provoke the irate motorist behind you, who travels that road regularly, into overtaking you on the inside lane.

On the other hand, if you take your eye off the road, in order to read the fine print, you run the risk of missing a real hazard in the road ahead.

In the good old days it was - Lampposts? 30; No lampposts? Use your common sense.

A friend was recently prosecuted for driving at 32mph in a 30mph zone.

Our fear of racking up too many points is resulting in motorists spending too much time flicking anxiously between their speedometers and the roadside traffic signs, rather than looking at the road ahead.