Top cop: 'Don't turn off speed cameras'
* Speed cameras save lives, says chief constable * Government to withdraw funding * Oxfordshire first county council to axe them...
The UK's top traffic policeman has told the Government that switching off speed cameras will lead to more people being killed on our roads.
The Government has pledged to end funding for fixed speed cameras, and Oxfordshire council has confirmed it will switch off its 72 speed cameras to save money.
Top cop warns of increased fatalities
However, chief constable Mick Gianassi, the Association of Chief Police Officers' lead on roads policing, claims there will be a rise in fatal road accidents as councils axe speed cameras because they can't afford to operate them.
'The evidence is that road safety camera partnerships have resulted in significant reductions in road casualties over the past decade,' said Gianassi. 'There are almost half the number of casualties that there were eight years ago.
'There is clear evidence that the public accept speed cameras. We recognise that we have to save money, we recognise that road safety has to play a part of that, but these cuts are a particular threat to the sustainability of the system.
'I am working with the Government to persuade them that action needs to be taken to protect the system and the future of our road safety'
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