Skip to main content

Average speed cameras ‘cut worst crashes by more than a third’

The use of average speed cameras has been found, on average, to cut the number of crashes resulting in death or serious injury by more than a third, according to research for the RAC Foundation by Road Safety Analysis. Researchers found that on average, having allowed for natural variation and overall trends, the number of fatal and serious collisions decreases by 36 per cent after average speed cameras are introduced. By the end of 2015 there were at least 50 stretches of road in Great Britain permanen
September 30, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The use of average speed cameras has been found, on average, to cut the number of crashes resulting in death or serious injury by more than a third, according to research for the 4961 RAC Foundation by 5227 Road Safety Analysis. Researchers found that on average, having allowed for natural variation and overall trends, the number of fatal and serious collisions decreases by 36 per cent after average speed cameras are introduced.

By the end of 2015 there were at least 50 stretches of road in Great Britain permanently covered by average speed cameras monitoring a total length of 255 miles (410 km).

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The indications are that compliance with average speed cameras is generally high; now this research reveals the sizeable impact they can have in reducing death and serious injuries.

“As the cost of technology continues to fall, more and more authorities are considering whether to install average speed cameras and so it will be important to ensure that casualty and compliance data is openly available so we can continue to assess and understand the road safety benefits they deliver.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • In-vehicle automation of safety compliance and other traffic violations
    January 24, 2012
    David Crawford explores new initiatives in enforcement. Achieving the EU’s new road safety target of reducing road traffic deaths by 50 per cent by 2020 depends on removing legal and institutional barriers to the deployment of new enforcement technologies, stresses Jan Malenstein. The senior ITS Adviser to Dutch National Police Agency the KLPD, and a European-level spokesperson on road and traffic safety, points to the importance of, among other requirements, an effective EUwide type approval process for fr
  • Driving forward cooperative intersection safety applications
    July 24, 2012
    Gregory Davis, FHWA, John Harding, NHTSA, and Mike Schagrin, ITS Joint Program Office (RITA) chart the course for cooperative intersection safety applications being pursued as part of the IntelliDrive programme. Crashes at intersections accounted for 8,703 highway fatalities in the US in 2008. Research and development is moving forward on IntelliDriveSM safety applications designed to help drivers avoid intersection accidents. These new safety systems could substantially drive down the highway death and inj
  • Barcelona finds speed cameras save money and lives
    March 15, 2012
    Deploying speed cameras in urban areas saves vast amounts of money as well as lives, according to a two-year cost benefit analysis carried out in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona, with an extensive urban area, is typical of many cities in the developed world. There are over 10,000 motor vehicle accidents annually with more than 12,000 people injured every year and less than 50 deaths. Economically, the cost of traffic accidents in Barcelona is over €300M a year.
  • Decrease in Florida’s red-light running crashes
    January 6, 2015
    The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' (DHSMV) recently-released third annual Red-Light Camera Summary Report analysed data from 68 police agencies in the cities and towns in Florida where red-light safety cameras are deployed. The report shows a decrease in red-light running violations and crashes at intersections with red-light safety cameras and is consistent with results from previous state reports affirming the effectiveness of this important law enforcement tool. Total violations