Now the Roads Minister tells us speed cameras save lives.

Well, they do save a few, but their main purpose is revenue raising, and this is why the NSW Highway Patrol has been reduced by 50 per cent in the past 20 years.

Simple economics; speed cameras make more money.

Ask yourself this, how many drunken, disqualified or dangerous drivers did speed cameras detect last year? None. How many people using mobile phones, unrestrained children or defect cars did they detect last year? None.

The only thing a speed camera detects is a vehicle driving over the speed limit by more than 3km/h in the few metres in front of the camera, nothing else, and the camera locations do not really reflect road deaths.

You will hear the term “speed was a factor in the accident”.

If you have a tyre blowout at 110km/h on the freeway it’s a mechanical fault, if you have a blowout at 111km/h it’s a speed-related accident and now we have a black spot.

Ask not what the accident factors are but what is the cause of the accident.

— B. SCOTT-YOUNG,

East Albury