Beware: The speed cameras you can't avoid

A QUIET revolution is under way above some of our busiest roads. A new generation of speed cameras is being ushered in which promise to do exactly what their proponents have always insisted they are about – cutting speed, not raising cash from fines.

Motorists in the Capital have already had a taste of average speed cameras during roadworks on the city bypass.

There, for 12 months until May this year, traffic uniformly slowed to 40mph between the two cameras at Old Craighall and Sheriffhall.

But the next generation of speed cameras have a far wider target than that simple two-camera system.

Improved technology means networks of up to 50 of the cameras can be installed in an individual area or a stretch of road more than 15 miles long.

Linking so many together for the first time means there is no escape for speeding drivers.

Whereas, until now, drivers could have escaped cameras set a significant distance apart simply by exiting at a convenient junction, the new system can cover every turn-off.

And what is most worrying for any driver who tends to nudge the speedometer over the legal limit is that, at around £300,000 for a basic network, they can be relatively affordable.

The new technology is currently being trialled by the Home Office in London, and is expected to be approved for wider use within months.

Average speed cameras are popular with the police, simply because they do tend to make people drive more slowly.

Whereas single cameras often catch drivers on the hop, average speed cameras give drivers a chance to react – and, faced with the prospect of a fine, all the evidence shows that they do react positively.

Superintendent Alan Duncan, head of the road policing unit at Lothian and Borders Police, says: "The benefit of these cameras is that the enforcement on the motorists is consistent and over a far longer period than a single camera, so they are far more effective in terms of modifying drivers' behaviour.

"If you have a stretch of road where there is a history of collisions, you can specifically target that stretch in order to change the way people drive. From that point of view, this technology has the potential to be effective in reducing collisions in accident blackspots."

The Lothian and Borders Safety Camera Partnership, the agency which installs and operates speed and red light cameras, is currently reviewing the future of its network. It is positive about the use of more average speed cameras as it considers how to invest its annual £1.5 million budget.

Manager Colin McNeill says: "Average speed cameras were pretty effective on the city bypass in tandem with the traffic management around the roadworks. We enjoyed a period where there wasn't a lot of offending but a lot of compliance. It kind of smoothes speed out, so it's also good for traffic flow."

The new generation cameras are potentially useful on main roads such as the city bypass, although are unlikely to be used in urban areas. He adds: "The whole ethos of speed enforcement is to try and make the roads safe, and if you've got problem areas over a large area of the road network it might be a good use of resources."

Significant numbers of drivers, however, will regard such "Big Brother" enforcement along routes where there is no history of fatal accidents as simply another example of interference by the "nanny state", according to one motoring organisation.

Hugh Bladon, spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, believes the cameras could cause an increase in accidents as drivers become obsessed with watching their speed. "What we don't need is people worrying about the speed they're driving at – let's have people wondering about how they're driving and not looking at the speedometer the whole time.

"It's all about control. It leaves the driver unable to make any decision for themselves. The final stage of this will be that each of us has one civil servant driving our car for us. I'm not suggesting we've got a man with a red flag walking in front of us, but it's not far from that."

The Institute of Advanced Motorists, however, was more positive, saying: "There is a very high level of compliance on average speed cameras – considerably higher than static cameras – which is good because it means you've got people complying with the speed limit for a longer period.

"We've always believed in compliance with speed limits as opposed to capture afterwards. As long as the cameras are clearly signed and they encourage compliance, they will make a further contribution to road safety."

Whatever the rights and wrongs, it looks like drivers will soon need to be quicker to apply the brakes on some of our busiest roads.