Sir, Must we continue to endure the same ill-informed argument of the pro speed camera group?

Now I along with everyone else in this country would love to see a speed limit-complying public and our roads made safer but does Kevin Tea, the public relations manager for Cumbria Safety Cameras, (Letters, February 6) really believe that the answer lies in the speed camera? Because it does not.

The most obvious route to safer roads lies squarely at the feet of driver training and driving attitudes and not with the ridiculous notion of the Gatso'.

How are we educating the Great British driving public on correct driving practices with such devices? The answer is we are not! In fact we are encouraging driving standards to degenerate. Now I am sure that he, along with J.N. Torrance of Flookburgh (Letters, February 6), could endlessly spout statistics to the contrary, just as respected motoring organisations and individuals could do so in opposition, but I think we should consider the basics, that is, what exactly is the point of a speed camera?

Road safety' cameras were apparently introduced to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by forcing drivers to reduce their speed. Now, of course, as we have seen, this has proved to be a massive success! However, only for the duration of the white painted markings that stretch before the camera and that teaches us nothing except how to recklessly bring our speed down within a short distance and to adhere to the speed limit for a few seconds only to then join a scrum of other quickly-accelerating cars - and all this in a supposed accident black spot' .

It really is pathetic to claim these cameras have a positive effect on road safety and if, as the police claim, they are such a good deterrent and so highly visible, then why are we seeing such increases in prosecutions?.

I'm fed up with the camera supporters droning on about how the biggest danger on our roads are the drivers who exceed the speed limits even if only by a small margin. They seem to ignore the real killer on our roads, The bad driver! Check your beloved statistics Mr Tea and Mr Torrance. The true culprit of injuries and deaths to motorists as well as pedestrians in Britain is driver error.

And let's face it we are not exactly going to catch these idiots without the presence of police patrol cars - the very same police patrol cars we can now apparently do without due to the miraculous properties of the speed camera!

For heaven's sake it's not rocket science is it? All we have to do is to make people take a re-test say every two or three years.

Or if the public were offered a real incentive, ie reduced insurance premiums (reduced because they will be a lower risk) for regular assessment, then the real core problem will begin to be addressed.

I have sometimes seen people drive at 25 miles per hour and shuddered at their actions. So let's stop persecuting the driving public by this underhand taxation and encourage positive change by reward rather than reluctance to learning through punishment.

Paul Wisse
Endmoor