Publishing camera locations defeats the purpose

REARVIEW:The introduction of a network of privatised mobile speed enforcement cameras – albeit 12 years after they were first promised – is to be welcomed. Gardaí insist the new cameras, which will be housed in clearly marked vans, will focus on incident blackspots and other areas where speeding is a known problem.

Of course, the debate over whether or not cameras actually reduce crashes rages on. But even the sceptics cannot argue against the fact that increased speed enforcement will result in fewer crashes. Opponents will point out that many cameras have been decommissioned in the UK due to public anger over what was seen as that government’s view of motorists as mobile cash machines.

While our own cash-strapped Government may be glad of the extra income, Gardaí have assured the public that the cameras will not be mere revenue-generating machines when used here. They point out that the consortium operating the cameras is being paid a flat fee and there is no provision for commission or bonuses, irrespective of how many motorists are caught.

The suspicious Irish public will take some convincing. In order to allay their concerns, the cameras must be used in a targeted, fair way. The decision to publish the 600 locations where the new devices will be employed on the Garda website is questionable. To publicly state that they will be concentrating on specific areas is to send out the wrong message, namely that if you speed on roads that aren’t being targeted, you’ll probably get away with it.

The public aren’t stupid. They get that message. Which explains why the Garda website crashed last week under the numbers of visitors, many of whom would have been fervently inputting the locations of all the cameras into their GPS systems and plotting alternative routes where they can speed with impunity.

By publishing the locations, the Garda has lost the element of surprise.