Skip to main content

New data shows average speed enforcement halves A9’s casualty rates

New data published by transport Scotland indicates that accident and casualty rates on the A9 have fallen dramatically in the first year of operation of the new average speed cameras. From the beginning of November 2014 to October 2015, two fewer people have been killed and 16 fewer people have been seriously injured between Dunblane and Inverness, while the number of ‘fatal and serious accidents’ between the two towns is down by almost 59 per cent, with ‘fatal and serious casualties’ down by approximat
January 26, 2016 Read time: 3 mins
New data published by transport Scotland indicates that accident and casualty rates on the A9 have fallen dramatically in the first year of operation of the new average speed cameras.

From the beginning of November 2014 to October 2015, two  fewer people have been killed and 16 fewer people have been seriously injured between Dunblane and Inverness, while the number of ‘fatal and serious accidents’ between the two towns is down by almost 59 per cent, with ‘fatal and serious casualties’ down by approximately 64 per cent.

The data also shows that no one was killed or seriously injured between Dunblane and Perth and the number of ‘fatal and serious accidents’ between Perth and Inverness is down by almost 45 per cent, with ‘fatal and serious casualties down’ by almost 58 per cent.

More recent figures confirm that the downwards trend is continuing with no fatal accidents on the A9 in the second half of last year.

Police Scotland have also indicated that the latest quarterly data from the average speed camera system continues to demonstrate extremely low levels of drivers being reported; with the latest figures indicating an average five drivers a day exceeding the operational threshold.

Chief Superintendent Andy Edmonston from Police Scotland said: "The reduction in serious and fatal injury collisions on the A9 in the first year following installation of the safety cameras is welcome. However, while the number of fatalities decreased by a quarter, the case remains that six people sadly lost their lives on the road.

"It is apparent the safety cameras have contributed towards changing driver behaviour, particularly in respect of complying with speed limits. Since the cameras were introduced just over 6,000 vehicles have been detected travelling at excessive speed and subject to enforcement action. To put some perspective on this figure, during the same period there were over 18 million vehicle movements along the route. This represents an extremely high level of compliance.

Transport minister Derek Mackay said: “We are monitoring the performance of the A9 and welcome the figures which indicate that the route continues to perform far more safely than before.  ‘Fatal and serious casualties’ have more than halved and there are clear and substantial reductions in fatal casualties both between Perth and Inverness and between Perth and Dunblane.

Related Content

  • Swedish drivers support speed cameras
    March 17, 2014
    In sharp contrast to many other countries drivers in Sweden support speed cameras and the planned expansion of the automated enforcement network. Sweden is embarking on a massive expansion of its speed camera network and is doing so with both a very high level of public acceptance and without its drivers feeling persecuted; a feat the administrations in many other countries would like to emulate. So how did this envious state of affairs come about? Magnus Ferlander director of business development and ma
  • Turning off red light cameras costs lives, new research shows
    July 29, 2016
    Red light camera programs in 79 large US cities saved nearly 1,300 lives through 2014, researchers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have found. Shutting down such programs has cost lives, with the rate of fatal red-light-running crashes shooting up 30 per cent in cities that have turned off cameras. Red-light-running crashes caused 709 deaths in 2014 and an estimated 126,000 injuries. Red light runners account for a minority of the people killed in such crashes. Most of those killed
  • Rural roads: deadlier than you THINK!
    October 9, 2014
    The UK government’s THINK! road safety website is launching a new campaign to warn drivers of the dangers of country roads. It says 60 per cent of people killed on Britain’s roads die on rural roads and new research shows many more drivers are needlessly putting themselves at risk of an accident. Three people die each day on average on rural roads; the number of people killed on country roads is nearly 11 times higher than on motorways. A shocking 25 per cent of drivers report having had a near miss o
  • Jenoptik supplies sophisticated multi-section control project
    November 17, 2014
    Efficient speed enforcement in the most highly frequented tunnel in Austria on the A7 near Linz. The Bindermichl-Niedernhart tunnel complex on Austrian highway A7 connects the major east/west A1 route from Vienna/ Bratislava to Munich/Salzburg with the A7/ E55 running south from Prague in the Czech Republic. This happens right in the middle of the city of Linz, Austria.