ENFORCEMENT, EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Section 23 of the Road Traffic Act 1991, which came into force on 1 July 1992, provides that in the prosecution of drivers for exceeding speed limits photographs from an approved automatic speed camera may be used as evidence without the corroboration of a police officer. Funding for start-up purchasing costs of speed cameras is usually shared between local authorities and the police, although it can also include the Highways Agency and Crown Prosecution Service and the courts (DETR, 1999).
The first speed cameras in the UK were installed in West London in 1992. The demonstration project, initiated by the Department of Transport and taken over by the Highways Agency, was expanded to include red light cameras on the trunk road network in four London boroughs. Within five years the number of fatal crashes had fallen by 70% and serious injuries by 28%. Pedestrian casualties fell by 41%, casualties to pedal cyclists and motor cyclists by 13% and 20% respectively. The cost benefit to society of preventing these crashes was calculated at £20m a year (Highways Agency, 1997).
A 1996 study of the use of speed cameras in 10 police force areas provided further evidence of their effectiveness. This analysis concluded that the benefits generated by cameras far outweighed the costs of purchasing, installing and running them. Among the benefits, the report calculated that casualties had fallen by an average of 28% at 174 sites covered, and that speeds had fallen by an average 2.3mph per site (Hooke, Knox and Portas, 1996).
One constraint on expanding the use of speed cameras has been meeting the costs involved in their installation and operation. A two-year pilot scheme that puts money raised from speed fines back into buying and maintaining cameras began in April 2000 in eight police forces (including Thames Valley Police – see below). The cameras are placed at locations with a crash history, and the funds raised are spent only on scheme running costs.
The success of the pilot has encouraged hopes of an early national ‘roll-out’ to all police forces. An annual increase of 300,000 tickets was originally expected (Bell, 2000). But in Northamptonshire alone the expected increase in 2000 is 100,000 tickets, compared with 4,000 issued in 1999. Average speeds of motorists in Northamptonshire have been cut by 13%. This has been accompanied by a 40% fall in the numbers of people killed and seriously injured (Local Transport Today, 2000). In all of the pilot areas 85th percentile speeds are much lower than had been predicted (Bell, 2000).
6.2 Thames Valley Police: Safer Roads Partnership
The Safer Roads Partnership involves Thames Valley Police, local authorities, magistrates’ courts and the Crown Prosecution Service in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. The Partnership was chosen as one of eight national bodies to run the speed camera pilot project described above.
Under the project the police, local authorities and courts have been given the power to use funds from red light and speed camera fixed penalty tickets to increase enforcement, both by using existing roadside safety cameras and by raising public awareness about road safety. The move follows increasing demand from the public for safer roads in the Thames Valley, as identified through community safety audits (Thames Valley Police, 2000a).
One of the Partnership activities is a Safer Roads Campaign. This includes an initiative whereby anyone caught speeding below a set threshold is offered the option of (a) a £¸60 fine and three penalty points on their licence, or (b) a visit to a nearby exhibition to watch a safety video, hear from road safety officers about the effects of speed and learn lessons on their driving behaviour (Buckinghamshire County Council, 1999). Those caught driving above the threshold automatically receive a fixed penalty ticket or have to go to court.
A month-long speed check in May 2000 resulted in more than 800 drivers being stopped at 19 separate Safer Roads checks across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire – sites chosen because they have a history of injury collisions caused by speeding. Of those, 485 drivers were given cautions for speeding and attended an exhibition staffed by road safety officers. A further 274 were given fixed penalty tickets, while 18 were reported to court for excessive speed and may be banned from driving (Thames Valley Police, 2000b).
In 1998 Buckinghamshire County Council also sponsored two vehicles to be used by Thames Valley Police to assist with speed enforcement and accident reduction in Buckinghamshire. The vehicles are supplied for the exclusive use of Speed Reduction Officers in Buckinghamshire. Details of the use of the two vehicles in the 18 months between 28 September 1998 and 31 March 1999 are provided in Table 7.
Table 7: Use of speed reduction
vehicles in Buckinghamshire speed enforcement initiative, September 1998
to March 1999
| district | total no of visits* | offences detected |
| Aylesbury Vale | 330 | 1,819 |
| Chiltern | 149 | 836 |
| South Bucks | 105 | 598 |
| Wycombe | 198 | 1,235 |
| total | 782 | 4,488 |
* some sites visited more than once
Contact:
Nikki Malin
MOPS HQ
Banbury Police Station
Warwick Road
Banbury OX16 2AE
(tel: 01295 754 722)
6.3 Sussex Police: Commercial Operators Safer Transport Scheme (COSTS)
In October 1999 Sussex Police launched an initiative aimed at improving standards among drivers of commercial vehicles, the Commercial Operators Safer Transport Scheme (COSTS). The title has been used to remind the fleet vehicle industry that road crashes make real cost impacts on their businesses.
From 1 October 1999 letters have been sent to fleet operators whenever one of their vehicles is stopped by the police for speeding, or any other offence where road users are put in danger and the company is otherwise unaware of the actions of its employee. The scheme applies to all drivers and riders in Sussex issued with a fixed penalty notice or reported for summons where the vehicle is owned by or is being used on behalf of a commercial organisation. A standard letter is sent to the registered keeper identifying the time, date and nature of the offence, as well as the make and registration number of the vehicle involved. It does not name the offender.
The letter urges the company to ensure that people using its vehicles do so safely. It also invites them to consider their own procedures – driver schedules, job requirements and incentives – in case they put pressure on staff to take chances on the road. Further advice in the management of occupational risk is also offered.
The principle of advising the registered keeper of an offence involving one of their vehicles has been established by the use of automatic speed cameras, so the COSTS scheme is a logical extension. The scheme is a one-year pilot which will be evaluated to assess whether companies contacted have taken any action. Sussex Police would like to see the project extended across the country; one problem highlighted by the pilot is that Sussex Police officers have no remit to chase up drivers of company vehicles from outside Sussex.
Contact:
Inspector Steve Long
Traffic Division
Terminus Road
Bexhill-on-Sea
East Sussex TN39 3NR
(tel: 01424 456 084)
Bell, I (2000), ‘Speed Enforcement Technology: Police Applications and the Role of Hypothecation in Casualty Reduction’, Aston University Conference: Managing Vehicle Speed for Safety, Birmingham, September 2000
Buckinghamshire County Council (1999) Local Transport Plan 2000-2005, Aylesbury: BCC
DETR (1999) The effects of speed cameras: how drivers respond, Road Safety Research Report No. 11, London: DETR
Highways Agency (1997) 'UK's first speed cameras cut road deaths by 70%'. Highways Agency press release, 16 July 1997
Hooke, A, Knox, J and Portas, D (1996) Cost benefit analysis of traffic light and speed cameras, Police Research Series Paper 20, Home Office: Police Research Group
Local Transport Today (2000). 'National roll-out for speed camera hypothecation after positive results', 21 December 2000
Thames Valley Police (2000a) News and Information, ‘Safer Roads Campaign’, saferroads@thamesvalley.police.uk
Thames Valley Police (2000b) News and Information, ‘Reckless drivers run the risk of speed’, Safer Roads Campaign, saferroads@thamesvalley.police.uk