THERE are several ways to interpret today's news that the number of speeding fines issued in Lancashire has almost halved although the number of accident casualties has risen.

The fine reduction could be caused by people generally driving more slowly and keeping within speed limits all the time.

Or it could be because motorists know where cameras are and automatically hit the brakes as they approach them before accelerating away again.

At the same time, while the number of road deaths and serious injuries has dropped, minor injuries have gone up.

While overall no one would argue that a reduction in more serious accidents is anything less than encouraging, the part played by speed cameras in this is open to debate.

The cut in speeding fines is also welcome - especially to the many people who believed cameras were becoming nothing more than a means of raising even more money for the government at the expense of the hard-pressed motorist.

But it does pose a threat to organisations like the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety which relies on cash generated by cameras since it is supposed to be "self-financing."

The Partnership is unlikely to be disappearing in the near future, however. That's because it now plans to move mobile speed cameras close to fixed ones - to catch all those who accelerate after passing them!