10 July 2007

Safety cameras save more lives

The number of people killed or seriously injured at safety camera sites across the county has been reduced by 58.3% since the Partnership launched in July 2002.

The number of overall casualties - including slight injuries - are also down by 35.5% which amounts to 394 fewer injuries a year. This means more than one person each day being saved from injury by safety cameras alone.

It is not just enforcement that is carried out by the Partnership - over the last five years numerous educational campaigns have taken place to try and change motorists attitudes and behaviours towards speeding. Such initiatives have included talking to motorcyclists, young drivers and people who drive for living - these groups are the most likely to be involved in a road traffic crash.

Rachel Wall Communications Manager for the Partnership said: “A 58.3% reduction in deaths and serious injuries is excellent news and motorists that are staying within the legal limit should be congratulated. This reduction shows safety cameras do work and are saving lives. In an ideal world all road users would stick within the legal speed limit and then safety cameras would not need to be installed - until this happens we will continue our work to improve safety on our roads.

“The Partnership gives motorists a vast amount of warning about its camera locations to give drivers the opportunity to slow down - we allow a 10%plus 2mph tolerance level before prosecuting at all our sites, only one in four cameras are live at any one time across the county and every camera is highly visible and accompanied with a black and white camera bellow sign.

“We also list every camera location on our website (www.kmscp.org) and issue weekly camera locations to the local media. All this information means there really is no excuse to be photographed speeding in Kent & Medway.”

To see our cameras locations and crash statistics click here