Speed cameras have cut road carnage by over 40%: PSNI

Local & National

Thursday, February 01, 2007

By Jonathan McCambridge

Police today claimed that Northern Ireland's speed camera programme has saved lives as they revealed that there has been a 41% reduction in the number of serious or fatal collisons in areas where cameras are located.

Figures revealed by the PSNI's Central Statistics Unit also showed that the number of deaths and serious injuries at sites where there is a fixed camera are down by almost 75%.

Northern Ireland has four fixed speed cameras - on the Saintfield Road, the Antrim Road, the Upper Newtownards Road and the Springfield Road in Belfast. They were introduced in July 2003.

In addition mobile cameras using laser technology are deployed on 33 roads across the province.

SPCECS cameras, which monitor drivers' average speed between two fixed points, have recently been erected on the A1 near Newry.

The speed cameras have been unpopular with many motorists as each speeding detection brings a £60 fine. However, police today said their analysis proved that the cameras were vital in tackling road deaths.

Chief Inspector Brian Kee, Deputy Head of the Road Policing Development, said: "The number of collisions involving serious injury or death from July 1, 2000 to the June 30, 2003 (before cameras) at safety camera sites and routes was 563.

"From the July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2006 there were 334. This is a significant reduction and we want to thank motorists who have slowed down and helped us reduce casualties across the province. However, we have still a long way to go - 125 deaths on our roads last year is still far too many."

Chief Inspector Kee said that while there were 229 fewer serious collisions in the three years since the cameras were erected, not all of this decrease can be solely attributed to the deployment of safety cameras.

He said: "There are many other factors which can contribute to a reduction and the frequency of collisions on routes will also vary randomly over time.

"In addition, there has been a general decrease of 20.5% in the number of all fatal or serious collisions across all of Northern Ireland over the same period.

"Nonetheless, the presence of safety cameras have been proven, time and again, to reduce speeding and save lives and does play a major part in reducing collisions. We promise to continue to focus on excessive and inappropriate speed by targeting the locations where there are known problems with speeding.

"We want to influence driver behaviour and encourage them to slow down. Research shows that a reduction in speed leads to a reduction in collisions. Our message is simple: we want to stop you speeding, not catch you speeding."