The yellow vulture menace raking in fines of £1m a year
Thousands snared by average speed cameras
AVERAGE speed cameras are costing Scottish drivers more than £1million in fines every year.
In the six-month period to December, nearly 6,500 motorists were clocked by so-called ‘yellow vultures’ in three Central Belt zones.
Hundreds more were caught over the limit on the A9.
With so many drivers snared by cameras using number plate recognition technology on the overhead speed gantries, it is estimated that the Treasury is raking in more than £3,500 in fines every day.
Neil Greig, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, has expressed concern at the high number of people getting caught. He said: ‘When you see figures this high, you wonder if transport authorities are doing enough to make sure drivers know what speeds they should be doing.’
The majority of people have been caught out on the M8/ M73/M74 that links South Lanarkshire to Glasgow.
The speed on these roads was slashed from 70mph to 50mph last July for roadworks which are set to remain in place until at least 2017.
Between July and the end of December, 4,656 people were caught out on the route. Of these, 2,878 were hit with £100 Fixed Penalty Notices, meaning the Treasury has made more than £250,000 on that stretch of road since the cameras went live on July 20.
On the A90, safety cameras are being used while the new Forth crossing is being built.
Only 106 drivers were snared in September, the month they went live, but the number rocketed to 839 between October and December. This is despite the Forth Road Bridge closing on December 4 for nearly three weeks, meaning far fewer cars used the route.
Of those motorists, 282 were handed fines – raking in almost £30,000 – and 88 were reported to the procurator fiscal.
On the A77, a 32-mile stretch of road is covered by average speed cameras.
Motorists are now familiar with the cameras, which were the first of their kind in the UK when they were introduced in 2004. Despite this, they still caught 885 drivers speeding in the six-month spell to the end of the year.
More than half faced £100 fines – raising £45,000 in revenue – and 99 were reported to prosecutors.
The latest figures for the A9, which run from October 2014 to October 2015, show 5,918 drivers – around 493 a month – were caught breaking the average speed limit.
If the trend continued until the end of the year, fine revenue from the cameras up until December would have amounted to almost £300,000.
One driver who has been caught twice in recent months on the A9 said people spend so long staring at their speedometers it is a wonder they do not cause more accidents.
Proofreader Michael Boyne, 36, of East Kilbride, said: ‘It’s often impossible to keep to the limit they prescribe, especially if you’re trying to overtake.’
Edmund King, of the AA, believes average speed cameras are essential ‘to protect both drivers and those working on the roadworks’.
But he added: ‘You do need to question if drivers have been informed properly if so many are caught speeding.’
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: ‘Safety is a key priority and the benefits of using average speed cameras on major roadworks projects have been established over a number of years.
‘As part of the wider speed management strategy, the safety camera system is delivering excellent levels of speed limit compliance and achieving its aims in contributing to road worker and driver safety.
‘We want to see safe and responsible road use, which would mean no fines being generated at all.’
‘Impossible to keep to limit’