Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
In respect of the draft regulations requiring all speed cameras to be painted yellow and provided with advance warning signs:
- (a) what road accident reduction figures will be achieved by enabling motorists to slow down before they see a camera and ignore speed limits elsewhere in the knowledge that hidden cameras will be banned; and
- (b) how many accidents will have to take place on a particular stretch of road before the Government will permit cameras to be installed. [HL1913]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe eight areas piloting the netting off scheme, in which programmes of promotion and information to drivers on where cameras are placed have been a part, have achieved a large reduction in deaths and serious injuries at the camera sites. There has been no transfer of accidents to sites or roads elsewhere. It would follow that an additional increase in driver awareness of the sites of cameras the new visibility rules are intended to bring would improve casualty reduction still further.
The rules of entry to the netting off scheme contain guidance on where to place both fixed and mobile cameras. There should be evidence of speed-related casualties clustered around a particular location or along a stretch of road with the general guide of there being eight or more injury accidents in the preceding three years. Before cameras are placed, it should be clear that other methods of speed reduction are inappropriate.
Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the road safety benefits of motorists not being caught by surprise by hidden cameras. [HL1915]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonSpeed enforcement cameras reap most road safety benefit when placed at sites or on routes with a history of speed-related218WA accidents. Greater awareness of the presence of cameras should encourage more drivers to comply with speed limits and so reduce collisions and accidents.