Speed kills

As we are told, over and over and over. And over. In Scotland Gatsos and their ilk are called Safety cameras, and the system that has raised over £22million in the last 5 years is for our protection, not to help fund the follies of the Scottish Executive, of which there are too many to name here.

The latest Government figures showing that in fact only 5% of accidents are caused by excessive speed (which means too fast for the conditions, not necessarily over the limit) must have caused some annoyance to the supporters of speed cameras. it also meant that the comment on the first page of the above link has had to be changed. You see it used to say that speed was the single biggest contributor to accidents, now it simply, actually long-windedly, says that when there's a crash, a faster one has worse injuries.

Well, I've been looking for evidence that the cameras work because, quite simply, I'm a driver. I want the roads to be safer, whatever it takes.

So far, I've found that:

1. Roadworks with cameras at them have a higher rate of fatalities and injuries than those without, so that's obviously working.
2. More cameras have been in use this year than last year in Grampian. In 2005 there were 53 fatalities, while this year there have already been 54. So that's working too.


Still, for someone else's view, I suggest looking here.