The Speed Camera. A Money Making Box

There has been a lot of talk around the United Kingdom in recent weeks about speed cameras being removed from around the country as they haven’t been proved to be reducing accidents.

By taking these cameras down people are saying that we will save great amounts of money each year due to us not having to run them and also have police members checking the shots every day to see what’s been happening. However, as stated in the video I have linked to above, the cameras around the country make about £100 million a year for the government. A hundred million is a lot yes, but in many peoples eyes it is nothing, especially as the United Kingdom are in billions of pounds of debt.

My Opinion

Obviously when I first heard about the current developments of what was going on with speed cameras I straight away looked into the business side of it, as that is what interests me and also because that’s what this country needs to do if we want to bring ourselves back into the black.

If speed cameras are making £100 million a year, I see no reason for them to be taken down. We paid the money to put them there and they are making a profit each year. I don’t know if they have made a profit compared to what we spent on putting them up, but that is not the point as we have already put them up, so we might as well use them until we have at least made the money back.

Of course though, many people are very happy about these developments, they want to see the cameras gone because they cause a nuisance! No they don’t… they only cause a problem to you if you actually speed, the answer is simple, don’t speed, you shouldn’t be doing so anyway. Also the people who are probably complaining about the speed cameras and want them to go will be the first to complain when the country yet again has no money to improve people’s lives.

A Money Making Box?

It is inevitable that people speed, even if it is by accident, it will happen and there will be a fine involved. “About 6,000 speed cameras across the UK cost motorists an estimated £100m in fines a year. Oxfordshire’s network raised more than £1m in 2009.” We need them to keep the money coming in and therefore there will be more money to spend within the country, to improve things which actually need thought, instead of trying to please law breakers.

Click to Enlarge

As well as this, and as illustrated in the table above, the speed cameras have a proven track record of reducing accidents in most areas, which in turn reducing the amount of money which has to be spent clearing up these accidents and the cost of sending out the emergency services. That means that as well as brining money in and saving money speed cameras mean that emergency services aren’t as busy with small problems and therefore can focus on the larger problems in our communities.

I Really Don’t See Why They Should Go

That’s my final statement on this matter; I don’t see why they should go. If you have any of your own opinions, I would be very happy to hear them, so please if so, post them below in the comments area.

This has been a very different post to what I normally do. I wanted to focus on a current story which many people have been talking about so that I could get my opinion across about the matter. Of course I’ve tired to keep in in-line with the normal ‘Profit’ and ‘Business’ topics.

Again, please feel free to express your opinions in the comments section.

Sources

Profit Quote – Yahoo News

Profit and Costs Table – Home Office (PDF)

Speed Camera – Flickr Comedy Nose