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Drivers "will welcome M40 cameras"
8:10am Thursday 3rd December 2009
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By Oliver Evans

DRIVERS will welcome a plan to put average speed cameras between junctions 3 and 4 of the M40, motoring bodies have said.
The AA and RAC said drivers saw the devices as “fairer” as they measure average speed between two points instead of at a single point.

But an anti-speed camera group said lower speed was no guarantee of safety.

The Highways Agency hopes to have the fixed cameras in place by April 2011. The motorway has no permanent devices in Bucks.
Andrew Howard, head of safety at the AA, said: “People who understand average speed cameras are generally fairly happy with them.
“They feel they are more fair than speed cameras. If you obey them you don’t get caught by them which is why they have become more popular.”
The cameras also helped smooth traffic flows, he said, as motorists drive at the same speed.
The RAC Foundation’s Jo Abbott said: "Average speed cameras would help mitigate a number of factors.
“In our experience, motorists are supportive of average speed cameras as long as they are well signed.” The agency said signs would be erected.

Midweek can reveal that there has been a massive drop in crashes and injuries since temporary cameras were stationed on three bridges between junctions 2 and 4.
There were four and five deaths between November 2006 and October 2008 – and this fell to one in the following ten months – when cameras were first operating; ‘Serious’ smashes decreased from 17 to ten; ‘slight’ collisions from 117 to 62 with a consequent fall in injuries: 25 to 13 ‘serious’ and 221 to 100 ‘slight’.
Midweek called for action to be taken to make the motorway safer after a year of carnage that began on May 31 2007 when three people were killed and 11 injured in a three-vehicle pile up.
Within a year, six more people were killed in seven accidents.
Operations manager Richard Owen said evidence showed average speed cameras “are effective in reducing speeds and crashes”. The partnership said speeds of 79 to 84mph will incur a ticket although drivers might be able to avoid points by attending a speed awareness course.
A Highways Agency spokesman said: the aim was to install the cameras in 2010/11, subject to funding.”

But Claire Armstrong, co-founder of anti-camera group Safe Speed said the move was “appalling”.
She said: “There is this idea that just because they happen to be driving at a specific limit it somehow makes things safe. It doesn’t.”
Instead, drivers “turn off” by looking too much at the speedometer, she said. The new figures are “completely useless in statistical terms” because they cover only 11 months, she said.

Buckinghamshire County Council transportation boss Cllr Valerie Letheren welcomed the news, but said she was disappointed the agency had failed to secure cash for signs warning drivers about the temporary cameras.
Extra studs and markings would be added to junction 3 to 4 by April, she said.
Studs will also be added between junctions 5 and 6. These should cut night crashes by 20 per cent, she said.
But chevron road markings to denote safe gaps between cars were ruled out, she said. She insisted drivers have to “take responsibility for the way they drive”.

Midweek can reveal that there has been a massive drop in crashes and injuries since temporary cameras were stationed on three bridges between junctions 2 and 4.
There were four and five deaths between November 2006 and October 2008 – and this fell to one in the following ten months – when cameras were first operating; ‘Serious’ smashes decreased from 17 to ten; ‘slight’ collisions from 117 to 62 with a consequent fall in injuries: 25 to 13 ‘serious’ and 221 to 100 ‘slight’.
Midweek called for action to be taken to make the motorway safer after a year of carnage that began on May 31 2007 when three people were killed and 11 injured in a three-vehicle pile up.
Within a year, six more people were killed in seven accidents.

“take responsibility for the way they drive”.