SPEED CAMERAS LEAST EFFECTIVE SAFETY MEASURE
12 November 2004 - Safe Speed

Figures published by Transport 2000, RoSPA and The Institution of Civil Engineers reveal that speed cameras are the least effective local road safety measure.

Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign comments: ''With 3 million speeding tickets expected to be issued this year - contributing well over £100 million pounds to speed camera operations around the country - the roads are not getting safer. Clearly this is due to investment in the wrong safety measures.''

Paul continues: ''After extensive research and analysis Safe Speed is absolutely certain that the negative side effects of speed camera outweigh the dubious safety benefits. Speed cameras don''t just affect drivers at speed camera sites; they affect behaviour across the entire road network. As a nation we now have a completely unjustified paranoia about vehicle speeds. This paranoia leads to false safety priorities and more fatalities.''

There are more recent official figures for speed camera effectiveness, but unfortunately they are fatally flawed due to deliberate neglect of the regression to the mean effect.

Paul comments: ''We abhor the modern twisted and false statistics used to justify expansion of the speed camera programme. Until they fully account for the regression to the mean error we will have no idea if speed cameras are effective at speed camera sites - and even after that we still need to determine the full effects across the wider road network. Decent scientific research is vital. Until then all speed camera operations must be suspended immediately in the interests of safety.''

www.safespeed.org.uk

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