A surprising new report from the UK’s largest independent road safety charity has revealed that UK road users want to see the nation’s speed cameras put to better use, and being adapted to check vehicles for insurance, MOT and road tax offences.

The much-maligned yellow boxes and cameras may be seen as a blight on British roads, but a survey of more than 2,000 motorists by IAM RoadSmart has found that attitudes to the safety camera kit is that it should be more flexible. Nine out of ten (89%) said that safety cameras should be used to catch those breaking the rules, whether that be speeding or simply driving without legal documentation.

“As with previous years, the results from our Safety Culture Report demonstrate that law-abiding citizens are totally in favour of a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to catching those who are a menace to other motorists on UK roads,” said Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart.

“However, despite the vast majority of drivers agreeing for several years now that we should be using the widely available technology, we have at our disposal to catch illegal drivers, many police forces are yet to leverage the equipment to its full capabilities.

“The inconvenience, as well as pain and financial misery uninsured drivers often inflict on other road users should not be overlooked, meaning we should be doing all we can to deter and punish drivers who think the rules don’t apply to them. It is well known that enforcing ‘paperwork’ offences often leads to the detection of other more serious crimes. This is why we support drivers in their calls for cameras to be used against those who violate the rules of the road.”

The survey also supported for more instant fines for those who do actually break the speed limit, with 82 per cent agreeing that drivers should receive an automatic fine if they exceed the speed limit by 10mph in school zones and urban areas.

“Speeding is simply unacceptable, and it’s encouraging to see that the public are largely in support of looking for new ways to identify motorists who are endangering the lives of others,” Greig continued. “Introducing automatic detection will deter drivers who are tempted to speed, which in turn will help reduce the number of casualties on our roads.”

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