Speed Scameras

Now, I am not a fan of speed cameras in any shape or form. In fact I loathe them because actually they make me a bad driver. I have nine points on my licence all obtained when I was otherwise distracted and didn't notice the sudden change in speed limit signing or Mr Plod was hiding behind a brick wall doing his damndest to stop falling asleep. I am quite paranoid about driving now as I am constantly taking my eyes off the road looking for someone hiding round a corner trying to take my livelihood away from me.What makes me even more mad is in all cases I was not even attempting to break the limit. For instance, on the last occasion I was on the M25 at 10.45 at night, all four lanes of the motorway were open, cones were on the hardshoulder, Weather conditions and visibility were fine, volume of traffic average. I had just travelled 10 miles at least with my cruise control on 50 m.p.h. as the roundels on the overhead gantries showed 50 when all of a sudden I saw broken white lines on the road and too late flash flash I was nabbed cause the speed limit had suddenly changed to 40. Now why?I wrote to the Metropolitan Police and asked them that question and being a Safety Professional (yes I know...don't laugh!!) I said if I was carrying out a risk assessment I would take into consideration the weather, traffic, visibility and any other hazard factors and come up with a "low risk" rating on that night...so why was the camera on at that point when there were no workmen in sight ?Needless to say, I did not get a reply. Did I expect one? Well manners and courtesy spring to mind but to be truthfull I didn't expect one because that is the way of things in this country at the moment. We pay our taxes, work hard and try to be good citizens and the people who's wages we pay treat you with contempt.In 2003/2004 speed cameras earnt £112.2m in fines . On April 27th 2005 The Times reported despite record speeding offences in 2003/2004 (1.8 million) the number of road deaths rose slightly to 3,508... so how affective are speed cameras really in reducing road deaths ?I don't think for one minute that any reduction in road deaths in 2004/2005 is anything to do with better safety features built into modern cars.. I would be a fool to think that..wouldn't I ?It is also said that there are more people now driving around with points on their licence than there are without. Well can you imagine the reaction if all those people took to their feet and marched on Westminster to confront the powers to be and demand that they own up finally to the fact that revenue creation is the name of the game and not safety. The mind boggles doesn't it.Look at the speed cameras link above it's food for thought and very funny and join this association if you feel really strong about this subject. They are working really hard on behalf of us all.