Skip to main content

Road safety award for average speed scheme

A route enforcement and casualty reduction scheme on the strategic A14 in the UK has won a prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award. The A14 route between the Midlands and East Anglia operates at the national speed limit of 70mph as a dual carriageway with central reserve and no hard shoulder. The average annual daily traffic figure is 74,000 and with no motorways or other high standard diversion routes along this corridor, journeys can be seriously delayed when congestion or collisio
November 28, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
A route enforcement and casualty reduction scheme on the strategic A14 in the UK has won a prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award.

The A14 route between the Midlands and East Anglia operates at the national speed limit of 70mph as a dual carriageway with central reserve and no hard shoulder.  The average annual daily traffic figure is 74,000 and with no motorways or other high standard diversion routes along this corridor, journeys can be seriously delayed when congestion or collisions occur.  To the east, the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich result in a high number of heavy goods vehicles; these having an impact on speed differentials and traffic flow.

There were a large number of collisions and casualties along this route, even after the installation of eight fixed spot speed camera sites in 2001.  The 503 Highways Agency therefore decided to install average SPECS speed enforcement cameras between Spittals Interchange and Girton, a 22 kilometre control section.

The SPECS cameras have been operational since July 2007.  Analysis of the two year post installation stats19 data shows that killed and seriously injured (KSI) collisions have dropped by 68 per cent, which equates to an average annual saving to the economy of US$6.8 million.  In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that journey time reliability has improved, providing smoother flows, reduced close following, less aggressive driving and better fuel consumption.

Related Content

  • March 1, 2013
    Traffic monitoring and hard shoulder running
    Hard shoulder running is on the increase – and the detection and monitoring of incidents on affected roads is occupying the minds of experts across Europe and the US
  • January 20, 2012
    Impact of speed limits in Barcelona
    When Barcelona imposed an 80km/h (50mph), the result was significant in environmental, accident, fatality and injury terms. The 80km/h speed limit had the same positive environmental effect as if 22,100 cars were eliminated from the roads in the metropolitan area. Moreover, a reduction in the consumption of fuel by more than 24,000 tonnes per year was also achieved, while accidents, fatalities and injuries also showed substantial improvement.
  • November 10, 2014
    M25 upgraded to ‘smart’ motorway
    Road users on the vast majority of the UK’s M25 will benefit from four-lane capacity now that the final section between junctions 25 and 27 has become a smart motorway. The road has been upgraded from three to four lanes in each direction, with the hard shoulder converted for use as a permanent traffic lane and enhanced on-road technology to manage traffic flow to improve the reliability of journey times, providing a boost for businesses and the wider economy.
  • October 31, 2016
    Average speed cameras reduce injury collisions, says report
    Research carried out into average speed camera (ASC) effectiveness by the UK’s RAC Foundation concludes that the implementation of ASCs in the locations that have been assessed in its report has had the effect of reducing injury collisions, and especially those of a higher severity. Even taking into account other influencing factors, the report says the reductions are large and statistically significant. Researchers analysed detailed accident data taken from 25 sites where average speed cameras were inst