Safe Speed Forums

Speed camera that rakes in £500,000-a-year blamed for doubling of motorway casualties
Last updated at 5:35 PM on 15th November 2009

A motorway speed camera responsible for earning the Government £500,000-a-year in fines has been blamed for increasing accidents since it was installed.
The camera, which monitors a busy stretch of the M11 in Essex, results in 9,000 tickets a year, but figures released by police show crashes have risen by a quarter at the site.
A Freedom of Information request made by campaigners who oppose what they see as revenue-based penalty tickets also showed casualties have almost doubled since 2001 when the camera was set up.
M11 junction4/5 southbound
Safety camera or money maker? The M11 Gatso in Essex at the centre of the controversy
Paul Pearson, who runs motoring website penaltychargenotice.co.uk, said: 'No wonder they haven't removed the camera that is causing these accidents.

'It is just raising too much money and they clearly want to keep it there.'
Essex Police, which runs the camera together with Essex Council and the Highways Agency, had initially refused a Freedom of Information request by Mr Pearson for details about the speeding tickets issued by the machine.
But after a ruling by the Information Commissioner, the police have been forced to disclose that in 2003 alone the M11 camera was responsible for 9,639 fines and a further 8,451 in 2004.
The following year 9,047 motorists were caught by the camera and in 2006 a total of 7,801 were sent fines. In 2007, the number fell to 3,305.
There are no complete figures for 2008, but in the year up to May 2009, the number of fines had risen to 6,445.
Mr Pearson has highlighted the danger he claims the camera poses, after he put in an earlier Freedom of Information request, having witnessed an accident on the road.

He said: 'The speed limit reduces from 70mph to 50mph without prior warning, the carriageway narrows from 3 to 2 lanes and just beyond is a speed camera.
'In February 2008 we witnessed the aftermath of a three-car pile up immediately in front of the camera.
'It was obvious that it was the camera that caused the accident because cars were having to reduce speed and merge and then of course some motorists slam on their brakes when they pass the camera.
'So we asked the Department of Transport for the accident and casualty statistics.'

The data showed that in the five years before the camera was installed, there were 13 accidents and 14 casualties in the area. In the following five years, the number of accidents rose to 16 and casualties to 24.
The Highways Agency said that the accident data for the spot, between junctions four and five on the southbound carriageway, did not show a pattern of accidents which would be consistent with the camera itself being a factor.
Police have blamed motorists who slow down ahead of the camera and then speed up once they are clear of it.
A spokesman for Essex police denied the camera was causing crashes.
He said it was not being kept for revenue reasons and that there were no plans to remove it.
He said that police recently added an extra 'speed indicator' sign that displayed approaching motorists' speeds before they reached the camera, in addition to camera warning signs and 50mph signs.
'Cameras do not cause collisions, poor driving does,' said the spokesman.