Byrne fears credit crunch may stall speed cameras

By Breda Heffernan Saturday October 11 2008 ROAD safety chief Gay Byrne said he will be "extremely depressed" if money is not allocated in next week's Budget for the long-delayed introduction of speed cameras. The chairman of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has been waging a prolonged battle with various Government departments to get funding for a nationwide network of 600 private speed cameras in a bid to cut road deaths. A roll-out of cameras has been promised for the last four years, however, there are still only a handful of fixed cameras -- as distinct from the handheld ones used by gardai -- for the whole country, with these being rotated around 20 grey box units. Speaking at the launch of a safe winter driving initiative in Dublin yesterday, Mr Byrne said the Authority is placing its trust in the Government next week.... [read full story]