Since the news was announced about the switching off of the speed cameras, several letters and articles have been written about the carnage that will follow on our roads.

Of course several items have been from people with a vested interest in them remaining, but any motorist will tell you that they are in fact not very good at reducing speeds on the roads.

Local drivers know where the fixed ones are and also where the mobile ones usually hide out.

The cameras are painted bright yellow with signs before them warning that they are there, so should be seen by all, but the fact that so many people get caught proves the point that some do not which amounts to driving without due care and attention.

Having a speed camera will not make drivers observe the speed limit – other than for the 100 yards before and after the camera – after which they will resume the speed they were previously diving at.

I am sure all drivers have seen this happening at some time.

If cameras are a good means of stopping speeding, why tell everyone that they were going to be switched off? They would have been just as effective if they had been secretly turned off, although they would not have made any money. I do not endorse speeding. I observe the limits, traffic conditions permitting, and have never been prosecuted for speeding in more than 40 years of driving.

I am not a goody-two-shoes, just a safe, conscientious driver.

Bernard Robinson Burchester Avenue Headington Oxford