Average-speed cameras not ruled out for AWPR as mixed messages sent

Speed cameras could be put in place on the Aberdeen bypass, the transport minister has revealed – three years after Transport Scotland said there were “no plans for average-speed cameras” on the route.

In 2017, during construction of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR), the government agency insisted it had no intention of installing the controversial camera system on the new bypass.

At the time, the government was accused of sending mixed messages, as a £2 million average speed camera network was being installed on the A90 Stonehaven-Dundee road.

Earlier this week, in response to a question in the Scottish Parliament from north-east Conservative MSP Tom Mason, Transport Minister Michael Matheson said it is a possibility that safety cameras – which includes the potential for averagespeed cameras – could be brought to the AWPR if deemed necessary.

He told Mr Mason: “An annual safety camera site prioritisation process is

“A safety camera site prioritisation process is done every year”

undertaken to determine new safety camera sites across our road network.

“If the 2020 process identifies the AWPR as meeting minimum site selection requirements, a safety camera deployment will be considered.”

Mr Mason had asked the minster about what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce speeds on the AWPR.

Earlier this month it was revealed 271 speeding offences on the bypass had been reported by the police since in 18 months.

Mr Mason has appealed for a wide variety of speedreducing measures to be considered, arguing that average-speed cameras have made “little difference” to the reduction of dangerous driving on the A90.

Transport Scotland’s position on the issue of average-speed cameras on the AWPR seems to be quite clear – there are no current plans to install the so-called “yellow vultures” on the road.

That, of course, doesn’t mean the government can’t leave the door open to such a move, and SNP ministers appear to be doing just that, despite the dismal failure of the devices to improve safety on the A90 between Stonehaven and Dundee.

Then-transport secretary Humza Yousaf claimed the £2 million system would “help save lives” but last month it emerged that in the two years since it went live, the number of serious accidents, injuries and fatalities on the road had all increased.

Given the very small number of people being caught speeding on the Aberdeen bypass – fewer than one a day

– there seems to be little if any compelling evidence that a system which conditions motorists to keep their eyes on their speedometers more than they do the road and the traffic conditions around them will make the route safer. And they will do nothing to cut out the human errors and misjudgments which are the key factors in the vast majority of crashes.

Rather than leaving the door open to average-speed cameras, the government should firmly close it, and look at other ways of ensuring the AWPR does not become an accident blackspot.

“The number of serious accidents, injuries and fatalities on the A90 had all increased”

Photograph courtesy of Cabro Aviation and HJS Helicopters The AWPR under construction at Dyce.