Speed Cameras (Hansard, 2 March 1994)

§ Mr. Eastham
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration has been given to installing automatic roadside speed cameras as a means of reducing the number of road deaths.

§ Mr. Key
Automatic roadside speed cameras are already in use at sites with a history of speed-related accidents and are proving to be very effective at reducing deaths and injuries.

§ Mr. Eastham
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of evidence from abroad as to the effectiveness of the installation of automatic roadside speed cameras as a means of reducing the number of road deaths.

§ Mr. Key
The use of automatic roadside cameras in other countries was one of the factors that led to the change in road traffic law in 1991 permitting their use in Britain.
However, it is difficult to translate overseas experience to Britain because of the different social attitudes and enforcement practices.

§ Mr. Eastham
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from the British Medical Association urging the installation of automatic roadside speed cameras as a means of reducing the number of road deaths.

§ Mr. Key
There is no record of any formal representation from the BMA about the introduction of speed cameras.

§ Mr. Eastham
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will commission a study of the installation of automatic roadside speed cameras as a means of reducing the number of road deaths.

§ Mr. Key
Such a study has already been commissioned. The Transport Research Laboratory is monitoring the effects of speed cameras on both speed and accidents. Early results from the pilot project in west London suggest that accidents have fallen by 25 per cent. and the number of people killed or seriously injured by over 40 per cent.