When it comes to traffic cameras, the perennial question is are they in place to enhance safety by restricting speed or merely to generate revenue?
I have long been of the opinion that if safety is the primary selection criteria, then digital systems such as SPECS cameras, which look at average speed over a distance, are the way forward. There can be no denying the immediate impact of such cameras.
Recently, while travelling on a four mile stretch of the M6 motorway where this type of system was in operation - even when the roadworks covered were not active - people kept strictly to the 40 mph limit over the entire length of the temporary limit.
In contrast, the non-CCTV Gatso cameras have little effect on traffic speed other than in the immediate vicinity of the camera. Of course as the CCTV based SPECS cameras have a more dramatic impact on driver behaviour, logically they bring a consequent fall revenue. So the upshot of all of this, given the safety benefits, is whether the introduction of digital CCTV technology is being held back for reasons other than safety?
