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.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bluetooth traffic monitoring
    May 23, 2012
    Clearview Traffic has announced the Golden River M830, a new low-cost journey time monitoring and queue detection solution based on Bluetooth device recognition. A single unit detects and uniquely identifies multiple vehicles simultaneously across all lanes and in both directions. The company claims that on a dual carriageway the cost of an installed site is as little as 10 per cent of an equivalent ANPR installation.
  • Videalert CCTV cameras enforce red route in north west England
    December 7, 2018
    Videalert’s CCTV cameras are being used by Blackburn with Darwin Council in north west England to tackle dangerous parking at a nearby red route. The cameras are located on the A678 at Copy Nook on the Furthergate Link Road, a route which was widened under the Pennine Reach Scheme to help improve the flow of bus traffic between Hyndburn, Blackburn and Darwen. Videalert says its low-cost Digital Video Platform will deliver this enforcement via a single lamp post-mounted processor which is equipped w
  • AfDB support for Rwanda transport sector support project
    November 25, 2014
    The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US$74.47-million loan to finance the first phase of Rwanda’s Transport Sector Support Project, to support the country’s need to improve its transportation services. The project involves upgrading 51.54 kilometres of the Base-Rukomo road along the Base-Gicumbi-Rukomo-Nyagatare axis. The project aims to contribute to socio-economic development, to improve standards of living and regional integration through an improved and sustainable transport system tha
  • Colombian highway sees ITS tested to the extreme
    November 13, 2014
    One of the most challenging road construction and ITS projects currently underway is the upgrading of the road from Bogota to Villavicencio. Currently it takes four hours to make the 86km journey between Bogota and Villavicencio using the existing single lane in each direction road which passes through some very challenging terrain. It is the only ground connection between central Colombia and the eastern region which represents 40% of the country’s territory.