Speed Camera switch off sees fewer accidents

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Accident data shows that in the first nine months after the devices were scrapped in Swindon, there were 315 road casualties in the area as a whole, compared with 327 in the same period the previous year.


In total there were two fatalities – compared with four in the same period previously – and 44 serious injuries, down from 48.

The figures were seized on by campaigners who claim speed cameras do little to combat problem driving and are primarily a money-raising mechanism for local councils and the Treasury.
Swindon became the first town in Britain to switch its cameras off, when they were deactivated on July 31 last year.

However, large parts of the country are now expected to follow its example after the Government announced a £38 million cut in the Road Safety Grant, which funds the devices, from £95 million to £57 million.

Last Sunday, Oxfordshire became the first county to shut down its entire camera speed camera network. Councillors had voted to stop the county's £600,000 annual contribution to the Thames Valley Safety Camera Partnership, leading to 72 cameras being removed and 89 mobile camera sites left unattended by detector vans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7931842/Speed-camera-switch-off-sees-fewer-accidents.html

Excellent news.

Scameras switched off, accidents and fatalities fall, everyone's a winner.

MegaMiniMouse

Where is the arithmetic?

Speed cameras are 'Cash Cows' - yeah?

So how does the government benefit from their abolition?

treliac

I guess the running costs are lost. But I wonder how true it is that accidents won't increase. I know that Brake are very unhappy about their abolition.

http://www.brake.org.uk/brake-reaction-to-vital-road-safety-work-being-halted-following-government-funding-cuts

Personally, I feel they were primarily valued because of the revenue they brought in, but may change my mind if compelling evidence is produced that says lives are lost as a result of them disappearing.

MegaMiniMouse

The title of this thread is unfortunate - Speed Cameras Make Money - bring them on - ... debates about road safety should take place elsewhere

MMM

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

treliac wrote: »

But I wonder how true it is that accidents won't increase.

Well the first results are in, and in Swindons 9 month trial, accidents, injuries and deaths all decreased. So we no longer need to wonder....

I know that Brake are very unhappy about their abolition.

But Brake are a bunch of anti-motorist nutcases, who think if we all wrap up in cotton wool and drive everywhere at 2mph the world would be a better place.

MegaMiniMouse

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Well the first results are in, and in Swindons 9 month trial, accidents, injuries and deaths all decreased. So we no longer need to wonder....



But Brake are a bunch of anti-motorist nutcases, who think if we all wrap up in cotton wool and drive everywhere at 2mph the world would be a better place.

As the proud owner of 9 extinct points on my licence, I find it hard to believe that the abolition of speed limit enforcement will save lives as well as money

Generali

It's not statistically valid. What was the weather like in the same period? Are traffic levels the same? The sample is pretty small, especially of fatalities.

Let's face it this is self justifying rubbish.

A._Badger

Generali wrote: »

It's not statistically valid. What was the weather like in the same period? Are traffic levels the same? The sample is pretty small, especially of fatalities.

Let's face it this is self justifying rubbish.

Perhaps. But so were the dodgy statistics used to introduce the damned things.

Live by the sword and you shall...

treliac

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Well the first results are in, and in Swindons 9 month trial, accidents, injuries and deaths all decreased. So we no longer need to wonder....

I think we need more evidence than one 9 month trial.

But Brake are a bunch of anti-motorist nutcases, who think if we all wrap up in cotton wool and drive everywhere at 2mph the world would be a better place

DH and I have had personal involvement with Brake. The organisation is rooted in the founder's personal loss of a loved one's life due to road accident. I think your comment is irrational and irresponsible.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

It's not statistically valid. What was the weather like in the same period? Are traffic levels the same? The sample is pretty small, especially of fatalities.

Let's face it this is self justifying rubbish.

I don't think you can say it's not statistically significant.

9 months in a major town such as Swindon encompasses a vast amount of driven miles and vehicle numbers.

The fact that the accident numbers decreased slightly may be within the parameters of natural variation, I'll give you that.

However, the fact that the numbers did not increase significantly after they were shut down does blow a bit of a hole in the case that cameras significantly reduce accidents and save lives.

Thrugelmir

There is considerable debate here as to whether turning off the speed cameras is actually working. In the past week there have been a spate of road accidents which resulted in hospital treatment. The concensus between local authorities is that 12 months figures are required, possibly longer to see if the scheme is really working.

We have a road improvement scheme in place costing a £120,000 to change the road layout where a young boy, was killed while walking his dog. The car coming down a hill, way over the 30 mph limit, mounted the pavement and pinned the boy to a lamp post. This was not a traffic blackspot. So cameras would not have saved his life. The scheme has widened the pavement and narrowed the road, causing drivers to brake as drive round the bend. Even his mother is campaigning to have cameras reinstated in the borough. Some people still drive as they always have done here. Badly.

What's been more effective is mobile speed traps in built up areas during all times of the day. On ordinary roads, in the most unexpected places. Catching people exceeding the 30 limit even if just over.