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Britain Caught on Tape: UK Has the Most Speed Traps in Europe

We already told you that Europe is slowly but sure turning into a huge Big Brother show but it seems like British authorities plan to do it faster than the other countries. According to a report by dailymail.co.uk, the United Kingdom has the biggest number of speed traps in the whole continent, much more than Germany or France.

In 2001, British speedsters were "spied" by no less than 1,571 cameras but the number is almost triple this year, the aforementioned source wrote. The number was increased to 4,309 in 2007, which makes us believe the overall figures have exceeded 5,000 this year.

As said, the United Kingdom tops the virtual chart of countries hosting speed traps, followed by Germany with around 3,000 cameras, Italy with 2,000 and France with approximately 1,000. The first result of so many speed traps is obviously a strong reduction in car crashes caused by excessive speed but, paradoxically, the number of drink driving deaths has risen in the last few years. To give you an idea, speeding tickets bring a total of 102 million pounds per year to the state budget.

In the United Kingdom, London has the most cameras - 439, Transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick was quoted as saying by the same source. Lancashire comes second with 345, followed by Thames Valley with 275.

"It's alarming that Labour's reliance on speed cameras to police all forms of road safety has led to the number of camera sites trebling since 2001," transport spokesman Theresa Villiers said.

"What Labour needs to realise is that speed cameras don't stop rogue drivers, they can't detect those without licenses, insurance or who drive drunk or on drugs. These are the real menace to our roads and hiking up the number of speed cameras on our roads will do little to stop them."
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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