it's time to get real about road safety

According to North Scotland's leading daily newspaper today, the chief constable of Northern Constabulary - Ian Latimer - has admitted speeding at 72mph in a 60mph speed limit on 1st July.

Paul Smith, founder of SafeSpeed.org.uk, said: "It's time to get real about road safety. There is no possibility that Chief Constable Latimer was driving irresponsibly - I'm confident that he was driving at a safe and appropriate speed according to the circumstances. Yet our road safety policy makers are determined to pretend that speed limit enforcement is central to road safety."

"Perhaps Mr Latimer will now admit that speed camera enforcement is ridiculous and distracting. Perhaps he will admit that looking at the road ahead is always more important than looking at the speedometer? Perhaps he will withdraw Police support for the hated camera partnership?"

"The reality is that none of us can stick to the speed limit perfectly at all times. Speed camera tickets are handed out at random to responsible drivers, and waste life saving resources at every level in our road safety system."

"You can't measure safe driving in miles per hour. We must have real road safety policies that encourage safe and responsible driving and not mere legal compliance."