Vandalised speed cameras divide opinion on social media

Last night saw another average-speed camera fall victim to vandals in the Longdowns area of Falmouth, the third incident targeting cameras to have taken place over the space of a few months. 

This latest incident seems to have caused a stir among social media users with some people praising the vandals who cut down the camera and others complaining they are putting people's safety at risk. 

In one exchange on a social media group, one commenter stated: "Fantastic, hope this continues!" to which another commenter replied: "I hope none of your friends or family get mangled in a crash caused by someone speeding"

This exchange then sparked a debate as to whether the cameras were installed for the safety or road users or pedestrians or as a means of making money for the local authority.

In another comment arguing whether the cameras would help reduce crashes, one individual stated: "These are revenue collectors nothing else, under guise of safety," sparking a response from another who argued that they would, responding: "Yes they do. The road here at Longdowns has been much safer since it was installed. Some of the speeds people used to do through here were senseless."

One comment that received several likes from other users stated: "It is an average-speed camera that covers a residential area. Everyone applauding this is essentially saying: "Me being able to drive at life-risking speeds through residential areas is more important than the lives of the people that live there!"

Last night saw another average-speed camera fall victim to vandals (Image: Colin Higgs)

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Responding to the comment, one user retorted: "First of all it isn’t an average speed camera, do you think that a speed camera stops accidents?

"People slow down then speed back up, people drive along on their phones more now than ever, literally not looking where they are going, all these cameras do is catch the ones that are not paying attention, you can just as easily be killed by a car doing 20 if the driver hasn’t reacted at all because they aren’t looking at the road

"It’s nothing more than a cash cow, if it wasn’t then why not have an automatic driving ban for being 1mph over the limit or driving without due care etc? Everyone would drive like saints."

Weighing in the subject in a statement sent to The Packet, Truro and Falmouth Liberal Democrat candidate Ruth Gripper said: "This is really disappointing and an affront to the local community. Speed cameras don't just get put in willy-nilly.

"Speeding is dangerous and makes life a misery for local residents. Cameras are only installed as a last resort after a lot of work by residents and monitoring by the Council - it took the community in Perranarworthal six years of consistent effort to get cameras installed. Cutting speed cameras down like this is a totally futile gesture that costs the taxpayer thousands of pounds.

"It is deeply worrying that an individual or individuals feel able to take the law into their own hands in this way and I hope the police will find those responsible. I encourage anyone with information about this or previous incidents to contact the police as soon as possible."