The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Average speed cameras on A90 ‘doing their job’
99% of motorists driving between Dundee and Stonehaven stick to speed limit
Transport chiefs say average speed cameras on the A90 between Dundee and Stonehaven have led to a dramatic U-turn in driver behaviour – with 99 out of every 100 motorists now sticking within the speed limit.
The statistic represents a major reversal from the period prior to the switch-on of the 30 cameras on the 51.5-mile stretch last May, when studies showed that three out of every five vehicles on the route were speeding.
Detailed evidence has also shown than just one in every 5,000 vehicles is now travelling at more than 10 miles per hour above the 70 limit.
Before the installation of the new £2 million system, one in every five vehicles on the route was travelling at excessive speed.
Transport minister Humza Yousaf said: “These findings add to the compelling evidence that average speed cameras help to transform driver behaviour.
“I’m confident that this encouraging improvement in speed limit compliance along the length of the A90 will help to reduce casualties in the same way as has been achieved with similar average speed cameras on the A77 and A9.
“The Scottish Government is committed, through Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020, to achieving safer road travel, reducing the number of serious injuries and working toward an ultimate vision of zero fatalities on our roads. This is another step toward achieving our ambitious vision.”
Police Scotland area commander for north road policing, Chief Inspector Stewart Mackie said: “I am delighted that the initial results from this project have had such a dramatic effect on driver behaviour, which is what they were intended to do.
“Reducing excessive speed on this road directly corresponds with reducing the chances of people being injured and killed in road traffic collisions.”
Local community councils have also given an early welcome to the statistics.
A spokesperson for Tealing Community Council said the reduction in speed through the locality – including at the notorious Tealing junction – had been noticeable.
A spokesperson for Stonehaven District and Community Council added: “The A90 is a vital route for our community and we are hopeful that the average speed system will keep those who live, work and travel to Stonehaven safer on the road.”
Just weeks before the average speed cameras went live, the A90 was branded the country’s deadliest road due to a toll of tragedy along its entire 175-mile length from Perth to Fraserburgh which saw 147 serious accidents – 35 of them fatal – in four years.