Speed Cameras: Effective or Defective?

Britain has become the speed camera capital of Europe, with the number of enforcement cameras nearly trebling over the last six years. Speeding fines and penalty points can be a driver’s worst nightmare as the addition of penalty points to your license can increase you cheap car insurance dramatically.

To Speed Or Not To Speed That Is The Question:

Speeding fines generate more than £102 million a year, with the Government admitting that exceeding the speed limit is a contributory factor in 6% of accidents and 13% of fatal crashes.

Love them or hate them, there is no way to out run a speed camera. Some motorists love the fact that they cut down the number of drivers that speed, while others say they are nothing but a way of invading privacy.

Figures from 2001 revealed there were around 1,500 speed traps; however recent figures show that the number has risen to over 4,300. Many motorists believe that the number of speeding offences can be directly related to the increase in speed cameras throughout the UK. As the number of speed cameras goes up the number of speeding offences and disqualifications for speeding are becoming more and more common in today's motoring community.

Motorists that are caught speeding can expect to receive a fixed fine and have penalty points added to their license. The cost of the fine will depend on the seriousness of the speeding offence, but motorists should be prepared to pay a large amount if they are found driving dangerously. Penalty points stay on a drivers license for up to four years and accumulating 12 or more points at any one time will generally result in a driving disqualification.

The number of accidents in UK is relatively more as compared to other countries of the EU; because a driver in UK spends 8.5 hours on average on the road compared to the 7.5 hours spend by the drivers of other EU countries.

In 1998, the UK government set a target that the number of accidents would be decreased by 40% by the year 2010. Looking at the statistics since 1998, we see that the number of accidents has decreased by 7%, and the number of fatalities has also dropped from an average of 3,578 in 1998 to 2,946 on average in 2007.

Speeding in the UK:

Motorists have begun campaigns demanding the scrapping of speed cameras and have accused authorities of using them for making money rather than saving lives. Motorists slow down ahead of the camera then speed up straight after, which motorists believe is a the main reason for the number of crashes.

Installation of speed cameras have proven to impede motorists, as driving behaviour can create new problems such as erratic braking and acceleration as well as distracting drivers, resulting in accidents.

While speed cameras are undoubtedly put there to safeguard the driver and the public by cutting down and clamping down on those who habitually speed, we all speed at some time or another even if this is as little as going just a few miles over the limit.

It is worth noting that points on your license from speeding make a huge difference to the premium that you pay and in order to get the cheapest insurance your license should be clean.

In order to get the best possible deal on car insurance, drive safely, keep within the speed limits and shop around for the right deal.

- K.J.N -