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Speed Camera © Simon MacMichael.jpgAlmost half of Brits feel speed cameras make the roads safer
A YouGov survey has found that 48 per cent of Britons think that CCTV and speed cameras have made our roads safer, reports The Telegraph. A further 34 per cent say these measures make no difference, while 10 per cent believe they have made the roads worse.
The survey – which was conducted for ITV two-part documentary, Car Crash Britain: Caught on Camera – also revealed a gender divide with 40 per cent of men wanting fewer cameras compared to 25 per cent of women.
Research carried out in 2010 by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) found that there was often something of a contradiction in drivers’ views. While people tended to recognise speed cameras’ safety benefits, there was also a reluctance to face paying a fine if caught speeding themselves.
Kevin Delaney IAM Head of Road Safety, described a common attitude as being the opposite of Nimbyism with people wanting a speed camera in their own back yard, but nowhere else.
“A lot of people like the idea of a camera on their street, slowing the traffic and making their area safer, but feel cheated when they confront one on a main road or in a different area. Rather than being purely hypocritical, it suggests drivers are seeing the lifesaving effects of cameras, but resent being caught out by them.”
That particular survey focused on councils’ decisions to switch off cameras and it too highlighted a gender divide with 55 per cent of men in favour of cameras being switched off, but only 33 per cent of women.
This latest YouGov survey also asked whether technology in cars has improved driving standards – referring to the dashboard and helmet cam footage which is heavily used in Car Crash Britain. Just 33 per cent of people felt that this technology had improved driving standards, while 54 per cent said it had either made no difference or had actually made driving standards worse.
Yesterday we reported that the government's record on road safety had come under attack after new figures revealed that nearly 25,000 people were killed or seriously injured on British roads in the year to September 2014 – a four per cent rise compared to the previous 12-month period.
Strikingly, 3,500 cyclists were either killed or seriously injured – a year-on-year increase of eight per cent – while the number of riders suffering slight injuries was up 11 per cent to 17,650.
The Police Federation’s lead on traffic, Jayne Willetts, said that cameras couldn’t make up for a 12 per cent drop in the number of road policing officers resulting from austerity measures.
“We welcome hi-tech developments, including the emerging smart motorway network, but the increasing reliance on automated technology and cameras can’t compensate for the decline in traffic police, who are the most effective way of combating dangerous drivers, drink drivers and people using mobile phones while driving.”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- Hirsute 59 min 49 sec ago
Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
- lonpfrb 1 hour 19 min ago
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
- lonpfrb 1 hour 45 min ago
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
- TheBillder 2 hours 32 min ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
- don simon fbpe 3 hours 1 sec ago
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
- chrisonabike 3 hours 40 min ago
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
- ktache 4 hours 20 min ago
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
- Veganpotter 5 hours 17 min ago
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
- chrisonabike 6 hours 32 min ago
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
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18 comments
I want to see black box technology in all vehicles, in the case of an accident it can be examined to ensure the vehicle was compliant with road/speed limits at the time.
Black box technology would have a massive impact on driver behaviour.
It's coming, insurers are the ones that are going to press for it more and more.
I wish they'd fit average speed cameras on stretches of urban road rather than just on motorways. Makes me laugh when you see people in average speed trap areas still braking for the cameras.
When those headlines read "thousands caught by speed cameras" it should read "thousands of drivers don't understand what 'average' means".
curious about the 10% who think cameras make the road less safe? How???
My assumption (and it is that) is that the logic goes like this :
a) the police have decided that they can stop putting police cars on the road and substitute the use of speed cameras as 'everyone knows that the only road safety problem is speeding'
b) speed cameras don't deal with appropriate speed (driving with the sun in your eyes), people driving while on the phone, forgetting to indicate, driving eating cornflakes, and in a general sense driving like total twats as long as it is under the speed limit
c) the driving public very rarely see a police traffic car so have little incentive to not drive like twats
d) with more danger from twattery everywhere, and less danger in some places from speed, they have actually made the road environment less safe overall.
I think it might be as simple as people jump on the brakes when they see a speed camera and then floor it again after they've passed it.
Almost half of Britons must also be fucking morons.
I'm in favour of anything that makes motoring more expensive or less convenient. There are too many cars on the roads, and it's way too cheap to run a car.
What people think about them is irrelevant. Whether they're effective at reducing speed can be measured. Whether or not reducing speed saves lives can be measured.
A better question would be "How many lives are you prepared to see lost every year due to speeding motorists?"
Just a shame that speed cameras are proliferated on the safest roads, and not where we actually need them.
If only they were treated as a safety device by our political masters and not simply a cash generating one...
Perhaps we, as vulnerable road users, could campaign for where we think cameras should be placed?
The only reason they raise any cash at all is because people drive over the speed limit. All "donations" are voluntary.
It kind of confirms my suspicion that motorist are generally massively selfish individuals.
PEOPLE are massively selfish. Many are driving motor vehicles.
True, but I think it's hightened by being in a car, you don't see the same me first attitude in the same way down the local supermarket do you.
Average speed cameras are proven very effective in keeping people under the limit.
Now, driving at an appropriate speed however... no cameras do anything to help that.
All speed cameras do is create very small sections of road where people observe the speed limit. As soon as you go anywhere that doesn't have speed cameras, it's open season.
Which is why the average speed cameras, as on the A9 are useful. Interesting to hear the squeals of horror from the pro motoring parties (most of them alas), at an effective measure. Now if they could just catch the speeders on other roads, and punish the bastards properly. ..
Which is important at accident black spots and where the vulnerable are at risk?