Speed cameras are one of road safety's success stories

Speed cameras are one of road safety's success stories
Professor Mark Stevenson is director of the Monash University Accident Research Centre
August 11, 2011
OPINION

http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/speed-cameras-are-one-of-road-safetys-success-stories-20110810-1imnm.html

Managing or containing travel speeds is the most fundamental tenet of road safety, and one of the most effective ways of managing the burgeoning incidence of road injury. There is no debate among scientists, bureaucrats or the public - the kinetic energy transferred in a motor vehicle crash results in the trauma that doctors see when victims arrive at hospitals.

We know that the greater the speed at impact, the greater the kinetic energy and, hence, the severity of injury. Clearly, anything that reduces the kinetic energy reduces the level of trauma. We know from research in Scandinavia that even a 10 per cent reduction in speed across the road network equates to a 30-40 per cent reduction in fatalities.

The management of speed is the success story of road injury prevention, and much of this success can be attributed to the widespread rollout of overt cameras, such as red-light cameras, and covert, such as mobile speed cameras.

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In combination, both overt and covert cameras act as a deterrent, discouraging offenders from reoffending and deterring all road users irrespective of whether they have previously offended.

I use the term ''speed cameras" but the more appropriate term might be "safety cameras".

The evidence of the effectiveness of overt speed cameras is overwhelming, with recent evaluations of red-light and fixed speed cameras in Victoria highlighting a 47 per cent reduction in casualty crashes and an associated cost saving to the community of more than $8 million a year. The evidence of the effectiveness of covert speed cameras is equally compelling, with a further 21 per cent reduction in serious casualty crashes observed following their introduction in Victoria a decade ago.

Importantly, covert operations are more likely to increase drivers' perceived risk of detection and, therefore, more likely to achieve the urgently needed reductions in speed across the entire road network - not just the isolated road on which a fixed camera might operate.

There is still considerable opportunity for tangible reductions in speed-related road trauma in Australia as long as comprehensive and consistent speed management schemes are implemented across all states and territories.

Like other road safety strategies such as seatbelt legislation and enforcement in the 1970s, the use of speed cameras will succeed as long as the states and territories initiate expansive programs.

This appears to be a challenge, with the New South Wales Roads Minister last month turning off more than one quarter of the state's cameras. We await the fate of the Victorian program, with the Auditor-General scheduled to table his report on speed cameras next month.

There is a wealth of evidence that advocates the use of fixed and mobile cameras for the prevention of road injury. Yet in a number of jurisdictions throughout Australia, there is increasing reluctance to embrace speed cameras, one of the most successful road safety interventions.

One of the main reasons for this is that the public has come to see them as measures driven by revenue rather than safety. Governments need to change this perception by using the money from cameras and other speed enforcement practices to support national and state/territory road safety interventions. In a number of jurisdictions, the money is currently added to general revenue.

In order to achieve a 30 per cent decline in road fatalities and serious injury over the next 10 years - the target outlined in the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 - a commitment to more rigorous speed enforcement practices is needed. That should include overt and covert enforcement, with increased penalties.

Professor Mark Stevenson is director of the Monash University Accident Research Centre.