Skip to main content

Less support for speed cameras in 2013

The use of speed cameras are supported by the majority of the motoring public, according to the latest research published today by road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists, with eighty per cent of motorists accepting their use. However, this is down one per cent on last year’s survey. Seventy nine per cent think that speed cameras are useful to reducing injuries, a fall of six per cent from the 2012 findings. There is still scepticism amongst the motoring public. Over half of drivers (
November 19, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The use of speed cameras are supported by the majority of the motoring public, according to the latest research published today by road safety charity, the 6187 Institute of Advanced Motorists, with eighty per cent of motorists accepting their use.  However, this is down one per cent on last year’s survey.  Seventy nine per cent think that speed cameras are useful to reducing injuries, a fall of six per cent from the 2012 findings.

There is still scepticism amongst the motoring public.  Over half of drivers (52 per cent) do not believe that cameras are only sited at locations where accidents happen.  Almost half of drivers think that raising money is the main purpose of safety cameras.

Scottish motorists are the least likely to have someone in their household with speeding points but they are also the most against speed cameras and speed awareness courses.
Support for speed awareness courses has increased.  Three quarters of motorists support the use of speed awareness courses up from 70 per cent in 2011.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: Speed cameras are a successful road safety solution at key crash sites and it’s important that the government and safety camera partnerships work to maintain a positive view so that the rising suspicion amongst motorists does not become a trend. During times of austerity, drivers are increasingly seeing speed cameras as revenue raising apparatus and are sceptical of their importance for road safety.”

Related Content

  • December 4, 2012
    ITS World Congress debates perceptions of enforcement
    The technical programme of this year’s ITS World Congress in Vienna includes a special session on the image of enforcement. ITS International examines the scale of the problem and what can be done about it. Debate on the merits and difficulties of enforcing speed limits appears centred on a conflict of principles. Put very simply, local communities, people living close to busy or hazardous roads, want to see traffic speeds calmed. Drivers on those roads, on the whole, want their principle of freedom to be m
  • January 27, 2016
    IAM welcomes consultation on strict penalties for mobile use at wheel
    The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has welcomed the Department for Transport’s (DfT) public consultation on stricter penalties for using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving. The DfT is looking for feedback on proposals for increasing the fixed penalty notice level from £100 to £150 for all drivers. It also invites views on increasing the penalty points from three to four points for non-HGV drivers, and three to six points for those that hold a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) licence and commit t
  • October 1, 2015
    IAM calls for more visible policing as speeding offences rise
    Figures obtained by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) show that, over the last decade, speeding is still the biggest motoring-related offence where the defendant is found guilty in court. The numbers of those found guilty have risen sharply in the past 12 months – from 115,935 to 148,426, an increase of 28 per cent, the highest number since 2005. The 2014 figures were two per cent greater than 2004. The next highest offence where defendants were found guilty was vehicle insurance-related crime
  • June 30, 2016
    Downward trend in Scotland’s road casualties ‘good news’ says IAM Roadsmart
    Independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has responded to Transport Scotland’s release of provisional headline figures for road casualties in Scotland, saying it is good news that the long term downward trends in deaths and serious injuries on Scotland’s roads continue but the figures are still far too high. The figures for road casualties reported to the police in Scotland in 2015 show that the total number of casualties fell by three per cent between 2014 and 2015 from 11,307 to 10,950, to the lo