Fatal Crash at Speed Camera Site, Birmingham A452

Birmingham Evening Mail, 31 October 2008: Teenager Dies in Chester Road smash

Staffordshire Traffic Police Numbers Drop 83.7% in 10 Years!

Despite the failure of Staffordshire's 260 plus speed cameras to have any impact on the county's road fatality trends, as demonstrated above (click on graph for a larger view), 94% of the £2.4 million road safety grant is being spent on maintaining speed cameras. The effect of the speed camera programme on the number of traffic police has been devastating: in 1998-9 there were 208, down to just 34 for 2007-8 - a staggering fall of 83.7%. Speed cameras don't catch drunk or other illegal, dangerous drivers - only police patrols can. Staffordshire police admit the fall is due to speed cameras and ANPR, but cliam that ordinary police patrol officers are trained to deal with traffic offences. Not so. Traffic police were the elite officers for detecting vehicle offences and can't be adequately replaced by ordinary patrols.

Trafpol numbers in other areas: 1998/9, 2007/8, % fall

North Wales: 236, 90, 61.9%

Cheshire: 205, 94, 54.1%

West Mercia: 238, 128, 46.2%

Surrey: 177, 98, 44.6%

West Midlands 405, 352

Figures from Auto Express and Express & Star:

Fears over lack of traffic police

Swindon Council Scraps Fixed Speed Cameras

Swindon Councillors have voted to withdraw the £320,000 funding for fixed speed cameras and spend the money on genuine safety measures. Road deaths in Swindon went up last year. Peter Greenhalgh, the Tory councillor who proposed the idea, told BBC Radio 5 Live the current road safety policy was not working, "The Department for Transport annual results - published on the 25th of September - show that, nationally, only 6% of accidents are caused by people breaking speed limits and yet almost 100% of the government's road safety money is being invested in speed cameras," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7685550.stm

See ABD Mercia's detailed examination of speed camera statistics:

http://abdmercia.blogspot.com/2008/09/detailed-examination-of-speed-camera.html

and a histogram of road fatalities in Staffordshire 1992 to 2006:

http://abdmercia.blogspot.com/2008/09/staffordshire-road-fatalities-1992-2006.html

Walsall Council are also reviewing their speed camera policy.

EuroRAP: A453 UK's Most Improved Road for Safety

The A453 from Mile Oak, Tamworth, Staffordshire, to Bassett's Pole roundabout on the A38, has seen a fall in casualties from 1 killed, 7 seriously injured for the period 2001 to 2003, to just 1 serious injury for the period 2004 to 2006. No speed cameras involved in order to claim all the credit, but the provision of pedestrian refuges at Mile Oak so that pedestrians can cross the road to the bus stops, and the reconstruction of the A38 roundabout at Bassett's Pole complete with traffic lights. The police have also clamped down on bikers gathering at Bassett's Pole and the accompanying bike racing on the public road. The unenforced 50 to 40mph speed limit at Mile Oak is incidental, despite the claim from EuroRAP.


EuroRAP say:

"Britain’s most improved road in this year’s analysis by the Road Safety Foundation is the A453 from the A38 to Tamworth in Staffordshire. This rural single carriageway has seen an 88 per cent drop in the number of fatal or serious collisions in the last six years, taking it from a medium risk road to one of the safest. According to the Foundation, this has been achieved by introducing traffic lights, speed limit reductions and village pedestrian facilities."

http://www.eurorap.org/library/pdfs/news/20080627_GB_Results_Release.pdf

EuroRAP