Figures given by Department for Transport [1] reveal for the first time that only one in fifty injury crashes involving drivers over the age of 25 (i.e. 26 and older) also involve 'exceeding a speed limit'.
Paul Smith, founder of SafeSpeed.org.uk, said: "These new figures complete the destruction of the case for speed cameras."
"If Department for Transport had road safety at the top of its priority list these figures would have been shouted from the rooftops and associated with the immediate dismantling of the failed speed camera programme. But at the top of DfT's priority list is the intention to conceal the fact that they have got road safety policy wrong. Clearly they would rather save face than save lives.They haven't told the public about the figures. It is shameful."
"Of course the 2% figure is far from the whole story. Within that 2% are the drunks, the thrill seekers, the stolen cars and so on. For the rest of us the possibility of being involved in an injury crash while speeding are vanishingly small."
"The tragedy is that we have put huge national resources into a problem that simply does not exist. Those same resources could have been expended on well- founded policies that would have saved real British lives."
"Speed camera policy was ill founded in the first place and has failed to make our roads safer. To get road safety back on track, DfT must admit that it has been chasing rainbows; pull the plug on the failed speed camera programme and refocus national efforts on improving driver quality and effective roads policing."
"Problems associated with young drivers mainly represent skills or attitude shortfalls in a minority of inexperienced drivers. It is unreasonable to claim that speed cameras could address this problem to any significant degree. For the rest of us, speed cameras are a dangerous distraction at best."
"These new figures are all the more remarkable when considered alongside Department for Transport figures [2] which reveal that more than half of drivers are 'speeding' on most road types under free flowing conditions. This means that for most of us 'speeding' is under-represented in the crash statistics by 25:1. I'd love to hear Department for Transport attempt to explain that away!"
Background note:
The introduction of speed cameras was founded on the false and misleading claim that 'one third of crashes are caused by speeding'. As time has gone on, better and better data has shown the claim to be entirely false. Famously in September 2006, Department for Transport were forced to publish figures indicating that only 1 in 20 crashes involved any speeding vehicle. But few of these crashes are 'caused' by speeding. Instead they are caused by a variety of factors, many of which are associated with skills or attitude shortfalls. The modern figures indicate those crashes where speeding may have contributed. (And, of course, contribution is very far from an actual cause).
For years 'inappropriate speed' figures were added to 'exceeding the speed limit' figures to give a higher 'composite' total. But inappropriate speed is a driver quality issue, while exceeding the speed limit is a legal compliance issue. They are chalk and cheese and should never be added together. See:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SafeSpeedPR/message/225
Even the 2% figure now available for drivers over 25 includes those where 'exceeding the speed limit' was coded as 'POSSIBLE' as well as those where it was coded as 'VERY LIKELY' on the 'STATS19' forms. It follows that many of the crashes within the 2% only had a confidence rating of 'possible'.
Notes for editors=================
[1] Published figures at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmtran/355/7032102.htmSee section 2.5 which contains:
"In 2005, for the first time, the Department collected data on contributory factors to road traffic accidents. Several of these factors are attributed to drivers up to the age of 25 in much higher proportions of cases than for older drivers. These factors were reported for the following proportion of drivers in casualty accidents:
Exceeded the speed limit:
Driver 17-19:8%Driver 17-25 6%Driver 26+ 2%
[2] 'Vehicle Speeds in Great Britain':http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/roadstraffic/speedscongestion/vehiclespeedsgb
About Safe Speed================
The Safe Speed road safety campaign is primarily the work of engineer-turned road safety analyst Paul Smith.
Since setting up Safe Speed in 2001, Paul Smith, 52, an advanced driver and road safety enthusiast, and a professional engineer of 25 years UK experience, has carried out over 22,000 hours working on the campaign with well over 6,000 of those hours researching the overall effects of speed camera policy on UK road safety. In addition to those 22,000 hours, Paul has funded to campaign to the tune of £10,000.
We believe that this is more work in more detail than anything carried out by any other organisation. Paul's surprising conclusion is that overall speed cameras make our roads more dangerous. Paul has identified and reported a number of major flaws and false assumptions in the claims made for speed cameras, and the whole "speed kills" system of road safety.
The inescapable conclusion is that we should urgently return to the excellent road safety policies that gave us in the UK the safest roads in the World in the first place. Far from saving lives, speed cameras are a dangerous distraction.
Safe Speed does not campaign against speed limits or appropriate enforcement of motoring laws, but argues vigorously that automated speed enforcement is neither safe nor appropriate.
Safe Speed is very slimly funded by voluntary contributions to the web site.We are urgently seeking improved funding.
The Safe Speed web site contains more than 350,000 words of road safety analysis and information. We are seeking publishers for 'the book of the web site'.
It has turned out to be quite an amazing story and there are opportunities for journalists and broadcasters to explore how all this came about, what it means, and where road safety has gone so badly wrong.
