- Do you want to be fined for accidentally taking the wrong turn in your neighbourhood?
- Do you want to be fined for being in the wrong lane on a roundabout?
- Do you want to be find for whatever’s the flavour of the month driving offence?
A few years back I had to drop my son’s friend off in Reading, near the railway station, to catch a bus to his school. I got him as close as I could and then realised I had driven into a forbidden area late at night costing me £40 or so for looking after a young teenager?
There was no other traffic around at that time but I know it’s a very busy area during the day and I paid my fine as I accepted I’d done wrong but really, these ANPR cameras should be on a timer for busy periods only but then why would any council do that to their CASH COW ?
With councils running out of money, many are currently being offered half a dozen by the Government to trial for 6 months, including RBWM.
There is a RBWM consultation that avoids the use of the phrase ANPR and instead calls itself the Moving Camera Enforcement Pilot. I find that a bit disingenuous, ANPR should have been mentioned in the title of this consultation if that is what they are.
Interestingly, in 2018 London Boroughs were making around £10m a year each from the deployment of these cameras. A nice little earner… just imagine what they are making today?
To be fair, I don’t have too many concerns about cameras being used in the town centre but if the council starts seeing this as a cash cow, commissioning more and more to generate income and they start popping up everywhere in suburbia, then that will become a problem.
We see how the speed limits change all the time on the M4 and M25 with these ANPR cameras doing average speed checks, those drivers that don’t notice the speed change and set their cruise control accordingly are picking up fines galore…
This could happen in RBWM as they switch the school route on a whim, parents just trying to get on with their day, already hard pressed to pay their bills, get caught out and there’s another £50 to find…
Do we want to live that life?
If you do then it’s simple, do nothing, sit back and let the world go by.
If you don’t then you need to take two steps.
Firstly, complete the RBWM Consultation here and tell them what you think in the box that allows for comment.
Secondly, sign the petition here that calls for there to be a consultation about the ANPR cameras being used in the first place. That makes sense. Parameters need to be set in the early days or we could be swamped with them as they don’t need feeding, just a bit of electricity, no sick days or pensions to worry about and on it 24/7 making millions for their masters.
You can influence the future by having a say. Don’t waste the opportunity.
Thank you.
Cllr Jon Davey
Clewer & Dedworth West
Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash
