Camera stats show fall in A9 crashes
Deterrent is working
A network of average speed cameras from Dunblane to Inverness has helped to cut fatalities and serious injuries on the road by nearly 43 per cent when compared to before their introduction, according to latest statistics.
The A9 Safety Group’s quarterly update revealed the performance of the trunk route and its camera systems over 136 miles.
It found that fatal and serious collisions and fatal and serious casualties were down since the introduction of the cameras in October 2014.
Figures up to September this year, when compared to a baseline of casualties, collisions and fatalities between 2011 and 2013, were all down. It says:
The number of fatal and serious collisions between Dunblane and Inverness overall is down by almost 45%, with fatal and serious casualties down by almost 63%.
There have been no fatal collisions between Dunblane and Pert,h with the number of serious collisions down by more than 60% and serious casualties down by more than 47%.
The number of fatal and serious collisions between Perth and Inverness is down by more than a third with fatal and serious casualties down by 59%
The number of serious injury casualties between Perth and Inverness is down by almost 69%
The overall number of casualties of all classes between Dunblane and Inverness is down by 45%
The A9 Safety Group also says a significantly reduced number of speeding vehicles continues to be recorded, and that the amount of speed camera detections of speeding vehicles is about 12 per day - less than 0.03% of the volume of traffic.
And, a key issue raised by anti-camera campaigners - the potential for longer journey times - has been played down, with findings that “journey time variation from the established baseline between Perth and Inverness has remained consistent and within the projected estimated range”.
Between 2011 and 2013 there were two fatalities, part of 66 collisions recorded on the A9 between Dunblane and Perth. In the monitoring
An average speed camera on the A9 period to July 2016 there were 26 collisions and no fatalities, but serious and slight injury collisions rose from 23 in 2011 to 37 in 2013 - falling by one since cameras were introduced.
From Perth to Inverness there were seven fatalities in the 21-month reporting period, contributing to a total of 45 collisions, and fatal casualties were eight in the same period, part of 76 casualties reported.
Both figures are down on the year-by-year breakdown, especially from 2012 when there were 115 casualties with eight deaths.
The data also shows that between September 2014 and a year later motorists driving in excess of the 70mph had fallen.
In figures from the Dunning speed camera on the A9 southbound, this fell from more than 28% of motorists to 15.16%.
Figures were not available for September 2016.