Statistics back the camera arguments

For many years the A9 had an unenviable reputation as one of Scotland’s most dangerous roads, a mantle it has cast off since the introduction of average speed cameras from Dunblane to Inverness.

They were brought in as an interim measure while the longterm solution to road safety, the dualling of the road, is designed and constructed.

They have proved immensely effective – the number of people injured in accidents on the A9 has fallen by 37% since the cameras were introduced.

More than 140,000 vehicles use the A9 every day and unlike safety campaigns or speeding blitzes by the police the cameras have a year-round presence.

One of the biggest impacts of the system has been seen in driver behaviour where the knowledge that exceeding the speed limit will lead to points and fines has led to drivers travelling at excessive speed down by more than 95%, a statistic the A9 Safety Group has hailed as a major success. The most notorious part of the 60-odd miles between Dundee to Aberdeen – the Laurencekirk junction – has, of course, been subject to a 50mph limit for more than a decade.

But as campaigners wait for the promised grade-separated junction to become a reality, news that the full length of the dual carriageway will be covered by average speed cameras is bound to divide opinion.

It would be hard to argue that the trunk road needs them in the same way the A9 did, because changes from single to dual carriageway simply don’t exist.

But you don’t need the statistics to tell you how effective average speed cameras have been along that route, and even the fact that it’s a full dual carriageway does not spare the A90 the driver madness that makes its Perth to Inverness counterpart such a hazardous Highland gauntlet to run.

Average speed cameras don’t impede progress at the legal limit if the conditions and traffic flow are appropriate.

And as long as they have the potential to cause some of the maniacs to throttle back on roads like the A9 and A90, I’m in the pro camp.