Most recent :
|
Godfrey extends the arm of friendship
|
|
|
|
Make Lifers Share Cells Call
|
|
|
|
Words, words, words: When will we get action on crime?
|
|
|
Search Speeches and Articles
| |
| News and Articles |
|
|
UKIP MEP hits out at Doncaster’s ‘misguided and dangerous’ pace car scheme
|
Local UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom has added his voice to the growing concerns over the Doncaster pace car scheme, an initiative designed to reduce road casualties – but one that Godfrey Bloom says will have the opposite effect.
Doncaster’s Road Safety Education Unit has introduced a scheme asking citizens to display a sticker in their windscreen and play a “mobile traffic calming role” by promising to stick to the speed limit at all times.
The controversial UK Independence Party MEP asked “Why are taxpayers funding this gimmick? Do they suppose that drivers will miraculously slow down as a result of this sticker? With drink-driving and drug-driving on the increase, we need regular police patrols to deter genuine dangerous driving, not to declare war on the average motorist who happens to stray a couple of miles per hour above an arbitrary speed limit.”
Godfrey Bloom went even further, claiming that the scheme is dangerous because it could cause drivers to become overconfident, believing that they are ‘safe’ because they happen to be driving within the speed limit.
“Which is more dangerous – a driver doing 75 on an empty, straight motorway in good conditions, or a driver doing 65 on congested roads in freezing fog? Driving within the speed limit is not automatically ‘safe’, and these stickers give a false sense of security.
Godfrey Bloom’s comments come after the Safe Speed campaign called for a rethink of the pace car policy. Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign, said: "This level of incompetence is breathtaking, and heads must roll in Doncaster. Road safety depends on drivers adjusting their speed to the hazard environment. This vital behaviour is being gradually, inexorably and dangerously replaced with a 'driving by numbers' approach."
Safe Speed argue that the pace car scheme could increase accidents for many reasons:
Risks due to frustrated overtaking
Risks due to tailgating
Risks due to traffic bunching
Risks due to a 'holier than thou' attitude
Risks due to traffic obstruction
For more information contact:
Godfrey Bloom MEP 01757 630778 / 07901 710518
Jonathan Arnott (Press Officer) 0114 2645656 / 07732 857339
Notes to Editors :
1. Official web page of the Pace Car scheme Click Here
2. The Safe Speed campaign can be found at http://www.safespeed.org.uk |
| Back to content list
To print this story click here. The story will open in a pop up window, Click on File and then click print, you can then close the pop up window.
|
|
|
|
