Figures obtained by a Conservative MP under the Freedom of Information Act show the number of speeding prosecutions and fines has increased sevenfold in10 years.
MP Mark Field’s request found safety camera offences rose from 262,000 in 1996 to 1,865,000 in 2006.
The Cities of London and Westminster MP told BBC 2’s Daily Politics he wanted the ‘pendulum turned back to the long suffering motorist’, adding that cameras were ‘more about money raising than safety on roads’. He also said he objects to the ‘excessive use’ of cameras and the ‘overzealous penalising of drivers’.
The AA president, Edmund King told the programme a decline in traffic police was a more serious concern. "A speed camera does not pick up the illegal foreign truck driver or boy racer with stolen plates, but a traffic cop can," he said. "We need to reverse this trend and increase traffic cops not only to make our roads safer but to make society safer."
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