SPEED cameras are to be installed at blackspots in Warwickshire in a bid to cut deaths on the county’s roads.
Average Speed Enforcement Cameras will be set up at locations in Rugby borough and Stratford district as part of Warwickshire County Council’s (WCC) plan to make the county’s roads safer.
Cameras will be added to a stretch of the A426 north of Rugby from M6 Junction 1 to the junction with the A5, the A428 from the junction with the A46 through Binley Woods village, and the A435 from Studley Cricket club to the junction with the A422 near Arrow.
The cameras will also be added to part of the A446 near Sutton Coldfield.
The routes were chosen after they saw a total of 129 injury-causing crashes over the last five years.
Instead of capturing speed in a single flash, Average Speed Cameras work by recording a vehicle’s speed at the entry and exit points of the route, and then calculating the average speed over the length of the route.
Road Safety Analysis found that on average, the number of fatal and serious collisions fell by just over a third after average speed cameras were introduced.
WCC’s road safety spokesman Coun Wallace Redford said: “We identify patterns of collisions and then analyse the best and most cost-effective ways of preventing those collisions. The Average Speed Enforcement Cameras will not only improve safety and save lives, but also manage traffic flow, which in turn leads to reduced traffic congestion and improved air quality.”
Ch Insp Faz Chisty, from Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, said: “Speeding in local communities is one of the main concerns the police are asked to deal with and our data tells us that speed cameras are effective.
“In Warwickshire, in 2019, over 45,700 people were caught speeding in the county – and even in 2020 during lockdown, over 33,600 people were caught – so your chances of being caught breaking the law are high.
“Most people don’t speed and we are asking the drivers that do to ‘slow down, save lives’ by driving at an appropriate speed within the limit. ”
The new safety measures will be installed during the coming months and are expected to be operational by the autumn.
