Every working speed camera on the strategic road network will be yellow within a year, the Government has announced. Ministers ordered a review of speed camera policy on motorways earlier this year and Highways England has today confirmed their plan to increase the visibility of all speed cameras on the network.
Using more than a billion miles of driving behaviour data, collected over three years (2011-2014), Wunelli, a LexisNexis company, has revealed the most frequent braking black spots across the UK created by speed cameras, based on motorists braking excessively just before speed cameras to avoid being caught. 80 per cent of all the UK speed cameras investigated had hard braking activity, with braking increasing six fold on average at these locations. Wunelli defines a hard braking event as a change in speed of 6.5+ mph over a one second time period, which is enough to propel a bag on the passenger seat into the footwell.
According to a white paper issued by the Institute of Advanced Motorists’ (IAM) Drive and Survive division, drivers who cover high mileages are the category of road user most likely to think speed cameras have ‘little or no influence’ in reducing road casualty numbers in the UK. The paper, titled Speed Cameras – The Views of High Mileage Drivers, also found 28 per cent of high-mileage drivers have a negative view of speed cameras – ten per cent more than other drivers. More than half the high-mileage drivers surveyed for the paper also viewed speed cameras as little more than a ‘money making tool’ – more than another category of road user.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has discovered four people have been captured at speeds in excess of 120mph on roads in Wales in 2014 – with one being caught at 136mph.
It has been reported that the government is set for further expenditure on speed cameras for the motorway network. Currently the cameras, which are positioned on the M25 and use digital technology, are designed to catch motorists breaking the 70 mph speed limit.
Over two thirds of motorists want the Government to apply the brakes to plans to lower speeds limits on the motorway according to a new poll by Motorpoint. A web-based survey by the car supermarket chain found 78.1 per cent of drivers opposed proposals announced earlier this year to restrict speeds on a section of the M1 to 60mph. Over 4,100 people participated in the poll on the company’s website – www.motorpoint.co.uk/.
The use of speed cameras is supported by the majority of the motoring public, according to the latest research published by road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Eighty per cent of motorists accept the use of speed cameras, but this is down one per cent on last year’s survey. Seventy nine per cent think that […]
Vysionics ITS, makers of SPECS average-speed cameras, have agreed with the Advertising Standards Authority to change their advertising claims, following a complaint from Malcolm Heymer, traffic management adviser to the Alliance of British Drivers.
The Association of British Drivers (ABD) has criticised the call by some Liberal Democrats to impose a 20-mph speed limit in all residential areas, effectively replacing the 30 limit by 20.
There is no evidence that this will have any benefit in reducing injuries and deaths from road traffic accidents, while it will impose very substantial costs to both implement this change and in on-going costs imposed on drivers because of the increased travel times that would result. Indeed compliance will be exceedingly questionable, with enforcement also difficult, and is likely to bring the law into disrepute.
In response to a new French decree, issued on 4 January, Michelin is changing the function of its French market ViaMichelin website and mobile applications. The decree forbids motorists from owning, carrying or using any devices that warn them about speed traps within France. Consequently, road maps and travel itineraries will no longer give the specific location of fixed speed cameras and instead indicate dangerous road sections.
Imagine the thought of tens of thousands of mobile traffic cameras on our roads. No these are not the kind of traffic cameras that are fitted to high police vehicles or are erected at the side of the road. We are talking about cameras installed in private cars, rusty old vans, delivery lorries and even public buses. No its not a nightmare it is the future according to one ex-police chief.
Motorists who dawdle at traffic lights annoy more people than bullying bus drivers, middle-lane motorway hoggers and caravans, a HiQ survey of 500 motorists has suggested. The fast fit network asked drivers what most frustrates them about life on Britain’s roads. Somewhat surprisingly, twee car stickers – including the slogans “sprinkled by fairy dust” and “cheeky monkey on board” – came third in HiQ’s Driver Frustration survey.
A new laser tread depth measuring system for moving traffic could become the next speed camera. And while speed cameras have become known as the driver’s nemesis, this idea has already been recognised for its marketing value. ProContour GmbH, the German company behind the H3-D device recently won a mark of distinction in the Reifen 2008 Innovation Awards in the Service/Marketing Ideas category. In fact, Tyres & Accessories has learnt that the German police force and one or two well-known tyre manufacturers have already expressed an interest in placing significant orders.
Working on the principle of laser triangulation, the ProContour H3-D is likely to make a significant contribution to road safety if enough end up being bought and operated. The moment T&A saw the device in action in Essen, all the surveys about a third of the UK car parc running on dangerous worn tyres sprang to mind. Obviously many consumers won’t change their tyres unless they are told to, so why not tell them?
This bank holiday the British Dunlop Motorsport Festival of 2007 hits Oulton Park in Cheshire on the forthcoming Bank Holiday Monday. After the season’s opening gathering at Snetterton in Norfolk, organizers are expecting another strong crowd to gorge themselves on a feast of Sports car racing, Production Saloon car racing, Mini racing, in fact a wall to wall racing spectacular from nine o’clock in the morning right through until six in the evening.
The action isn’t confined to the track either; also on the bill is the return of the popular Dunlop Great & British Mini Festival. Last year hundreds of Mini owners and their passengers took part in special parade laps around many of the country’s top racetracks and at Oulton Park they’ll be able to do the same again.
On the race front Scotland’s Oli Mortimer will be looking to continue his domination of the Mini Challenge championship. The promising youngster won all three races in his Cooper S at the recent Snetterton meeting and is out for more of the same at Oulton.
A habitual fly-tipper has been taught a lesson he is unlikely to forget in a hurry after officials seized a Mitsubishi 4×4 he had used during his illicit operations and put it through a crusher. Council bosses in Wigan approved this drastic measure against the trader suspected of dumping car tyres in a number of locations around the Wigan area.
