Accidents down after speed cameras go
The need for speed cameras in Tayside and Fife has been called into question after statistics revealed the number of accidents on the area's roads has fallen as the number of cameras has been reduced.
- By Kieran Andrews
- Published in the Courier : 05.10.10
- Published online : 05.10.10 @ 10.42am
Provisional figures released through the Scottish Parliament show the number of accidents across Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross and Fife dropped to 1497 last year, compared to the year before's total of 1507.
In the same period the number of speed cameras fell from 77 to 53 across the area.
The trend is seen nationwide, with figures for all of Scotland showing the number of accidents last year was 11,547 when there were 460 cameras on the road, compared to 12,158 accidents in 2008 when 492 cameras were in operation.
Drivers' Alliance policy analyst Jennifer Dunn claimed the statistics show speed cameras are used more as a means of income for local authorities rather than a tool for preventing accidents.
"Speed cameras are very good at raking in cash from motorists but not very good... at keeping the roads safe," she said.
"The reduction of cameras across Scotland has not led to more accidents on the roads as many suggested it would.
"A broader approach to road safety policy, which does not solely focus on enforcing speed limits through speed cameras, is what is needed if road safety is going to improve."
However, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Scotland's road safety officer Kathleen Braidwood hit back at those claims, saying the statistics instead show the cameras work as a deterrent to drivers.
She pointed out cameras are assessed every five years in areas that have been accident blackspots, but if there hasn't been a crash there for a long enough period then the camera is removed.
She said, "Aren't those statistics just a sign that the safety cameras are working because the number of accidents has come down?
"If the accident rate is lower at any given site the camera will be removed. Eventually we should not have them (cameras) at all.
"I used to be a road safety officer in the city centre of Edinburgh and when I went out with the speed gun people would be doing about 40 miles per hour in a 30 zone.
"But if you were to do that now the speed would be less because people have been educated. Attitudes are changing and cameras have played an important part in that.
"If you were to just remove all the cameras and drivers knew they weren't going to get caught, they would get back into bad habits again."
She added, "I certainly know cameras reduce speed and drivers have better observations when they are travelling at a lower speed."
Education also plays a part, she added.
Photo used under a Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user amandabhslater.
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