PULLING FAST ONES

In a bid to change driver behaviour, R Brunstrom, chairman of the traffic enforcement technology subcommittee of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), has helped to supervise the launch in April 2000 of eight pilot schemes. These schemes will allow police forces to claim back the cost of speed enforcement and red light camera operations from offenders. This article discusses the strategy and its implications, and reports on how police forces hope to make it acceptable to the public. The pilot tests whether (1) the money ends up where it is supposed to be; (2) reduces the number of road fatalities and injuries in the pilot areas; and (3) has acceptable consequences. The police expect to make a decision on whether to launch the scheme UK-wide by the end of 2000. To make speeding as unacceptable as drink-driving is now, those involved in road safety must challenge the mindset of most car drivers. There is psychological evidence that people throughout Europe speed because they obtain a reward from it, with little risk of being caught. They need to be shown that the reward is illusory, because it risks lives, and that offenders will be caught. Thames Valley Police, in one of the pilot areas, will broadcast radio advertisements of fatal accidents, and conduct public attitude surveys at the start and finish of the pilot.