Speed doesn't kill in Northants
Discussion
From the Chronicle today:
Published on Tuesday 6 September 2011 07:41
POLICE have revealed three times as many motorists have been breaking the speed limit since the county’s speed cameras were turned off in April.
However, Northamptonshire Police officers said that in the first four months since the big switch off they had not seen any increase in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads.
Every speed camera in Northamptonshire was turned off on April 1, after cash-strapped Northamptonshire County Council voted to disband the Casualty Reduction Partnership which ran them. Since then, police say they have seen a three-fold increase in the number of motorists now breaking the speed limit.
Chief Inspector Sean Bell, from the specialist operations team, said: “During the first four months (April to July), following the deactivation of the fixed site cameras, there has been no increase in the number of people being killed or seriously injured when compared to the same period in 2010. However, what has been noticeable is the increase in speed at which people are now travelling on the county’s roads.
“The Safer Roads Team collected speed data at a number of locations over a six-week period which concluded that over three times more motorists are now exceeding the speed limit when compared to a similar data sample undertaken when the fixed site cameras were still in operation. Whilst the data samples relate to different times of the year it does appear there is increased speeding.”
Despite turning off the cameras, police said they had still caught around 8,000 speeding motorists already this year and expected to catch thousands more during the coming months.
Traffic officers have increased the use of their four mobile speed traps.
Chief Insp Bell added: “The mobile camera vans are being used across the county, with deployments being focused to locations with the greatest potential for impact on casualty reduction and speed reduction and in support of local communities.
“It is anticipated that the new mobile camera service will detect in the region of 24,000 speeding offences during this financial year.”
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/crime/three...
I hope the casualty rate stays low to stop the cameras going back on.
Published on Tuesday 6 September 2011 07:41
POLICE have revealed three times as many motorists have been breaking the speed limit since the county’s speed cameras were turned off in April.
However, Northamptonshire Police officers said that in the first four months since the big switch off they had not seen any increase in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads.
Every speed camera in Northamptonshire was turned off on April 1, after cash-strapped Northamptonshire County Council voted to disband the Casualty Reduction Partnership which ran them. Since then, police say they have seen a three-fold increase in the number of motorists now breaking the speed limit.
Chief Inspector Sean Bell, from the specialist operations team, said: “During the first four months (April to July), following the deactivation of the fixed site cameras, there has been no increase in the number of people being killed or seriously injured when compared to the same period in 2010. However, what has been noticeable is the increase in speed at which people are now travelling on the county’s roads.
“The Safer Roads Team collected speed data at a number of locations over a six-week period which concluded that over three times more motorists are now exceeding the speed limit when compared to a similar data sample undertaken when the fixed site cameras were still in operation. Whilst the data samples relate to different times of the year it does appear there is increased speeding.”
Despite turning off the cameras, police said they had still caught around 8,000 speeding motorists already this year and expected to catch thousands more during the coming months.
Traffic officers have increased the use of their four mobile speed traps.
Chief Insp Bell added: “The mobile camera vans are being used across the county, with deployments being focused to locations with the greatest potential for impact on casualty reduction and speed reduction and in support of local communities.
“It is anticipated that the new mobile camera service will detect in the region of 24,000 speeding offences during this financial year.”
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/crime/three...
I hope the casualty rate stays low to stop the cameras going back on.
C.I. Sean Bell said:
During the first four months (April to July), following the deactivation of the fixed site cameras, there has been no increase in the number of people being killed or seriously injured when compared to the same period in 2010. However, what has been noticeable is the increase in speed at which people are now travelling on the county’s roads.
So, people are driving faster but there aren't more casualties? Hang on a moment - I thought speed kills?Nicol@ said:
I hope the casualty rate stays low to stop the cameras going back on.
I wouldn't lose too much sleep about that - this clearly shows that the cameras were never all about safety.er, yet more flawed data!
They are comparing speeds at fixed camera sites, before and after the switch off. That has very little bearing on the "average speed" that a typical motorist will travel at on any given road!
It is blatently obvious that a motorist would have previously slowed down when passing a camera(generally well below the actual limit to avoid any chance of a ticket) and now, they just continue at the speed they were previously doing.
So the statistic ought to be: 3x less people now brake and slow down for speeding cameras that are switched off.
The fact that the accident rate has not changed suggests that the "average" speed is still pretty much where it was previously (which you would also expect due to the vast majority of drivers following the 85th percentile rule for gauaging an appropriate speed at which to travel)
If anything, my evidence, gathered by nothing more complicated than actually driving on our roads (something the cash and personel limited law enforcement groups clearly don't do!) suggests that if anything, average speeds have fallen over the last few months, as increasing fuel prices have left people actively driving for economy more and more........
They are comparing speeds at fixed camera sites, before and after the switch off. That has very little bearing on the "average speed" that a typical motorist will travel at on any given road!
It is blatently obvious that a motorist would have previously slowed down when passing a camera(generally well below the actual limit to avoid any chance of a ticket) and now, they just continue at the speed they were previously doing.
So the statistic ought to be: 3x less people now brake and slow down for speeding cameras that are switched off.
The fact that the accident rate has not changed suggests that the "average" speed is still pretty much where it was previously (which you would also expect due to the vast majority of drivers following the 85th percentile rule for gauaging an appropriate speed at which to travel)
If anything, my evidence, gathered by nothing more complicated than actually driving on our roads (something the cash and personel limited law enforcement groups clearly don't do!) suggests that if anything, average speeds have fallen over the last few months, as increasing fuel prices have left people actively driving for economy more and more........
link below shows how many people got caught by cameras in 2010 in Northants, and what their punishment was
http://batchgeo.com/map/6d783e555bfd0f764dedad08a7...
http://batchgeo.com/map/6d783e555bfd0f764dedad08a7...
That is interesting, particularly the two cameras in Geddington. It has two cameras at either end of the village covering cars approaching - about 400m apart.
One has caught 60 speeders. The other, at the bottom of a long downhill slope, has caught 3,600!
On the assumption that there is no particular incentive to speed in one direction only, the most likely explanation is that people are backing off (if above 30) in both directions, but not allowing sufficiently for the pull of gravity on the downhill slope; i.e. most will only be marginally above the threshold for triggering the camera?
Steve
One has caught 60 speeders. The other, at the bottom of a long downhill slope, has caught 3,600!
On the assumption that there is no particular incentive to speed in one direction only, the most likely explanation is that people are backing off (if above 30) in both directions, but not allowing sufficiently for the pull of gravity on the downhill slope; i.e. most will only be marginally above the threshold for triggering the camera?
Steve
I don't know about anyone else, but even though I know the cameras have been switched off in Northants, I still ease off before passing them to the limit or just above just in case!!!
Another thing from this report - it seems that there are now more mobile speed traps than when the cameras were on - perhaps we were better off with the cameras on as at least we knew where they were to slow down - the mobile traps can pop up anywhere!
Another thing from this report - it seems that there are now more mobile speed traps than when the cameras were on - perhaps we were better off with the cameras on as at least we knew where they were to slow down - the mobile traps can pop up anywhere!
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