Speed cameras cut deaths on the road
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Eby Me MOM
A pilot project to install more roadside cameras in seven counties is being cited as the cause of a huge reduction in deaths and serious injuries.
Last April the government launched a two-year project to allow seven police forces to set the fines paid by motorists caught speeding. Under its terms, each force is allowed to recoup the cost of installing and maintaining new cameras directly from these fines—until now, all such fines have gone straight into the Treasury's coffers.
According to Susan Beck, spokeswoman for the project in Northamptonshire, the county has recorded a 20% reduction in road accidents since the start of the scheme in April this year.
"Northampton was unusual in the fact that until we started the project we had no fixed (GATS0) cameras and relied on mobile units to enforce speed limits," Beck explains. "Since April we have installed 13 cameras and plan a further 20 on the county's most dangerous roads."
To gain acceptance onto the scheme. Northants police had to make the business case for installing the cameras, In return the force will be allowed to recoup the £1.7m cost of joining the scheme.
Beck says she wants to raise awareness of the problem-76 people died on the county's roads last year.
The other forces trialling the scheme are: Thames Valley; South Wales; Essex; Cleveland; Lincolnshire; and Strathclyde.