Figures released this week have disclosed that speeding prosecutions from so called smart motorway cameras have now reached 1000 per week.

These are from either variable speed limit cameras when the gantry signs show the speed to be reduced to for example 50 MPH or from these cameras now being used to catch motorists driving faster than the standard motorway speed limit of 70 MPH

Are drivers getting faster or is the enforcement necessary and proportionate?

Our roads are in any event getting safer which is something we can all applaud with road deaths falling from 3,408 in 2000 to 1,713 in 2013 and all of this whilst the enforcement of motorway speed limits was by traffic police officers and with the new camera systems.

The question therefore is do we believe that the new smart motorway enforcement cameras are primarily there for road safety or for revenue gathering or would resources be better spent on funding increased numbers of traffic officers to police our motorways?