A CALL has been made for speed cameras to be switched back on in North Somerset from the leaders of three groups ‘trying to protect’ the district’s residents.

John Hunter, Dave Brockington and David Seccombe have written an open letter to Elfan Ap Rees, North Somerset Council’s executive member for highways, in the hope of encouraging the authority to turn speed cameras back on.

The three men, who lead voluntary Speed Watch groups in Nailsea, Clevedon and Tickenham, believe this would make the district’s roads safer.

However, according to Cllr Ap Rees, the number of road accidents happening in North Somerset each year is at its lowest level since 2000.

In their letter, John, Dave and David say: “Three local authorities have agreed to switch on the speed cameras which were switched off around three years ago, but not North Somerset.

“As active leaders of our community Speed Watch schemes over several years, we see speeding on a weekly basis on busy roads which are also used by elderly, vulnerable and young people.

“Speed Watch is another tool among many educational schemes designed to bring down the awful annual death toll, not to mention thousands of serious injuries. We are trying to protect people and avoid bringing down the awful trauma these casualties inflict on communities like ours.

“There is a problem though – police traffic resources have diminished so that the next stage of control, enforcement, has reduced.

“For those who speed in high-risk locations, the camera is now a reasonable alternative. It provides the ‘teeth’ when education has failed and reinforces the message, in the pocket, about speeding.

“Please will you re-consider and allow the police to re-instate operational speed cameras in North Somerset to support the council’s total commitment to safer roads and our wish to protect our communities?”

In response, Cllr Ap Rees said: “In North Somerset we actually changed the policy seven years ago, long before others switched theirs off, having decided it was better to invest the costs in other road safety schemes and incentives, including vehicle-activated signage and physical changes at identified black spots.

“Since then we have seen a continued drop in road accidents and are now at the lowest levels since 2000.

“Fixed cameras have major disadvantages. Firstly everyone can see them, which means that drivers intent on speeding simply slow down for a few yards and then speed up again.

“Other drivers take their eyes off the road ahead to focus inside the vehicle on their speedometer, not exactly a safe thing to do.”