Speed cameras save lives

In 1996 there were 117 fatal crashes. Last year there were 92, a reduction of 21 per cent.

Figures from the Sussex Safety Camera Partnership (SSCP), which oversees the county's speed traps, show the number of lives lost in car accidents has fallen year-on-year as the number of cameras has increased.

The statistics contradict claims the cameras are more successful at generating income than saving lives.

Sussex's first fixed speed camera was installed in April 1995 in Broadwater Road, Worthing.

The latest, in November last year on the A24 at Dial Post, near Horsham, brings the total in the region to 36.

Government guidelines say sites for cameras must have been the scene of four deaths or serious injury crashes in the previous three years.

There has not been a single fatality at a camera site since 1995.

Since installing a camera in Coldean Lane, Brighton, last year the number of drivers travelling above the 40mph speed limit has gone from an estimated one in five to three per cent.

In the past 12 months, 53,164 flashed motorists have paid a total of £3.2 million in fines.

Most of the cash raised has gone straight back into making roads safer, despite critics' claims they are a new "stealth tax" on drivers.

Of that, £912,999 has been spent on new cameras and running the safety campaign.

A further £681,921 will be passed on to the Treasury, but in future years almost all the money will stay in Sussex.

Each fatal accident costs emergency services £1 million to deal with. Stopping crashes saves cash, says the SSCP.

The figures have been welcomed by members of the partnership to justify the soaring cost of fines for motorists.

Emma Rogers, of the partnership, said: "I'm delighted with the latest figures. It shows speed cameras save lives by reducing the number and severity of crashes.

"There are still people who fail to see the speed limit and camera warning signs.

"Either they are not paying attention or they've a blatant disregard for the law.

"And if drivers are not concentrating on the roads ahead, that lapse might mean they don't see a child about to cross the road."

"We are not silent tax collectors. In an ideal world motorists would not be fined because they would understand the dangers of speeding - that is the ultimate goal."

Tony Reid, East Sussex County Council cabinet member for transport and the environment, backed safety cameras.

He said: "I am greatly encouraged by these preliminary findings and I congratulate the Sussex Speed Camera Partnership for their work."

Victoria Wallace, chief executive of the Lewes and Brighton Magistrates Courts Committee, also welcomed the figures.

She said: "We're delighted by the reduction in the number of fatalities and serious injuries.

"I hope that we will be processing fewer tickets in the coming months as the message that speed kills is brought home to drivers in Sussex."

Superintendent Nick Wilkinson, of the Sussex road policing unit, said he agreed the results were excellent. He added: "Safety cameras are not the only solution.

"Other measures are being introduced across Sussex to influence driver behaviour and reduce the number of tragedies."

Brighton Kemptown Labour MP Des Turner defended the Government's policy of pushing for even more speed cameras.

He said: "I do not regard them as a stealth tax.

"They have a beneficial effect on road safety, if only by making people more conscious of speed.

"It is very easy to slip over the limit.

"People can see the cameras quite easily and this should keep them awake."

Campaign group Transport 2000 has calculated that there are up to 10,000 requests a year nationally for new speed cameras.

The group contacted safety camera partnerships across the country this month and found thousands of people wanted more, not fewer, cameras.

Julia Samson, the group's Streets for People co-ordinator, said: "Britain is in love with speed cameras, not against them as motoring organisations would have us believe."