You’ve no doubt read about Richard Brunstrom’s latest publicity stunt, which was to show a group of journalists and road safety professionals some rather disturbing pictures. One of them was the decapitated body of Mark Gibney, a motorcyclist killed on the roads of North Wales.
Brunstrom is obsessed with drivers who break his precious speed limits, claiming his speed camera partnership has saved 53 lives since it was set up. However, Safe Speed’s Paul Smith is equally obsessed with speed cameras – but he sits on the opposite side of the fence from Brunstrom. Paul is absolutely certain that the cameras are costing lives, rather than saving them.
I was talking to Paul recently, and he made an interesting point. The controversy so far has been around the insensitivity of showing the pictures, but according to Paul, Gibney was photographed by Brunstrom’s speed camera partnership in the morning, travelling at 125mph. Later that afternoon he crashed and killed himself, the pictures of the grisly aftermath only now making an appearance.
While showing the pictures is certainly a grotesque move, the real story is being missed. Before Brunstrom’s obsession with speed cameras, this man would have been apprehended by a patrol car, not photographed to receive a fine later. It was Brunstrom’s obsession with automated policing that allowed Gibney to carry on riding – ultimately leading to his death.
This guy is just obsessed with speed cameras.. does the safety camera partnership really save lives? What about Durham? They have no speed cameras and they have one of the lowest accident rates in the whole country.
Paul | 08 Jun 07 - 14:29