UK Town to Abolish Traffic Cameras

The UK has quietly become one of the most-surveilled societies on earth. The isle sports an eye-popping one surveillance camera for every fourteen people.

The town of Swindon is finally pushing back — if for the wrong reasons — by opting out of a traffic camera program. The town council accurately claims that the cameras generate money, but not safety. The real objection, of course, is that the money raised goes to London, not Swindon.

So their motives may not be pure, but at least the results should be good. Accident rates tend to go up at camera-bearing intersections; authorities sometimes shorten yellow light times to nab more drivers running red lights.

Let us hope more localities follow Swindon’s lead, whatever their motivation.