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Road Safety Bill [HL]

I wish to speak to Amendment No.   66, which the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, kindly discussed very adequately, even though he does not support it. The purpose of Amendment No. 66 is the opposite of the amendments in this group standing in the noble Earl’s name. Amendment No. 66 would prohibit people knowing where speed cameras were, on the basis that, if they do not know where they are, there may be some hope that they will keep to the speed limit at all times, rather than just when they know that they are approaching a camera. As the noble Earl said, GPS-based camera warning devices cannot detect when a camera is active, but they can detect camera sites. As the noble Earl also said, that technology is advancing fast. However, I do not think that it is right for drivers to obtain information about where speed cameras are—be they fixed, moving, or whatever type—as that would enable them when approaching a camera to jam on their brakes, as one often observes. Some noble Lord will probably say that such a device is dangerous as, if a driver jams on the brakes too suddenly, the car behind, which is also speeding, will run into them. I do not accept that. I believe that   having the equipment that we are discussing constitutes an invitation to drivers to speed when they know that there is no camera. That is not the reason that we are here tonight; we are here to try to get people to limit their speed to the legal speed limit and thereby reduce accidents.