“Brian Austin, project manager of the No Excuse
campaign, said police officers had been amazed by the risks drivers were still
willing to take.” So Mr Austin, does No Excuse seem to be working, or does it
not? How long will it be before drivers are not willing to take those risks due
to no excuses?
“Three motorcyclists were spotted riding without
helmets and 15 motorists were not in proper control of their vehicle. Eight
drivers had no valid MOT. He added: “It seems some drivers were of the opinion
that because of a reduction in the number of fixed safety cameras road traffic
enforcement has been reduced.”” I know you think the public are idiots Mr
Austin, but surely you don’t think we are stupid enough to think that because
speed cameras are being shut down, we are less likely, for example, to be caught
for riding a motorcycle without a helmet?
Why is it that in these repetitive news items about
no excuses, we just see smugness about numbers caught (many going on your
courses at probably much more than 150% profit, although you refuse to tell us
how much) and some of the silly things said, and NEVER any evidence of improving
driving or respect for the law (in fact it seems not surprisingly that the
opposite is happening)?
Do the decisions you make influence how much money
comes in? Does this income influence your job security? Until this motivation to
make money, and apparently resulting very poor road safety decision making, is
properly stopped (as the DfT attempted back in 2007), we won’t believe you about
your stated interest in reducing casualties.