The number of road traffic accidents on Scotland’s deadliest road have significantly decreased following the introduction of average speed cameras across the A9.
The move to reduce accidents on the A9 has seen cameras installed from Dunblane to Inverness and led to a mass reduction in speeding offences and dangerous accidents as a result.
Excessive Speeding
Despite opposition from critics, the introduction of the cameras has led to a 97% decrease in those going 10mph over the limit. Figures also revealed that the number of people caught speeding has reduced significantly from over 2,400 to just under 300 in the same time period.
In order to further reduce speeding and accidents, the creation of a dual carriageway has been suggested and approved in the near future.
The chair of the A9 Safety Group, Transport Scotland’s Stewart Leggett, said: “It is very encouraging to see the improved driver behaviour following the introduction of the average speed cameras and HGV speed limit pilot, ahead of the dualling.
“Drivers are clearly paying heed and moderating their speed, and we welcome this positive contribution to road safety on the A9.”
He added: “The low number of drivers being detected by the cameras and the speed profiles from along the route indicates the early effectiveness of the cameras in improving behaviour; but the A9 would be safer still if every driver observed the limits.”
Improved Safety
Chief Superintendent Iain Murray, Head of Road Policing at Police Scotland, praised the encouraging start to drivers responding to the average speed cameras. He said: “It is clear that the cameras are changing driver behaviour in the way that we expected.
“This will undoubtedly help to make the A9 safer for all road users.
“Speeding is not the sole cause of collisions on the route and we shall continue to engage positively with those who put themselves and others in danger through risky or illegal driving behaviour.”
Campaign groups point to the reduced speed and the need for cars to overtake as one of the main reasons for the reduction in the number of accidents on the road,
Criticism Remains
Despite the A9 safety groups and Police Scotland praising the introduction of the camera, there has still been some criticism for the cameras which cost over £3 million to introduce, with many believing that the cameras should have stopped more than the 298 road users fined so far.
Mike Burns, spokesman for A9 Average Speed Cameras Are Not the Answer, said that speeding did not play a large part in the 100,000 accidents their group investigated on the A9 since 2004.
He said: “Only 2% were determined to be down to speeding and the rest were down to incidents of, for example, foreign drivers being on the wrong side of the road, poor overtaking and right-turn manoeuvres over dual carriageways.
“If these cameras were such a success, why is the A9 Safety Group now considering shutting right turns to stop right-turn accidents?
“The cameras were meant to be the be all and end all of all accidents, but they simply are not.”
Since the average speed cameras have been introduced, the average journey time has went up by around 14 minutes.
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