Why speed cameras cannot reduce the road toll in Australia.

Speed cameras are a great road safety invention - when used for their intended purpose. They were designed to be situated at accident black spots and clearly signposted in the lead up so that motorists were alerted to a dangerous section on the road ahead.

Governments however soon saw the cash register potential of speed cameras. They also saw that by increasing the number used they would be seen to being promoting safety while raking in additional millions of dollars.

Greed is a terrible thing and soon stepped in even further. Legislation was soon passed to allow speed cameras to be situated at up to 5 kilometres away from the accident black spot. Legislation was also passed to outlaw the use of speed camera detectors which would alert motorists to the upcoming danger zone.

These actions totally negate the initial purpose for which speed cameras were intended.

It did not end there and addicted state governments additionally realised that they could increase income dramatically by lowering speed limits below the natural rate of traffic flow. Traffic engineers around the world call this natural rate of flow the 85th percentile. It is the speed at which 85% of vehicles travel on a particular section of road. Speed limits used to be set at these speeds, most are now set below this natural rate of flow.

The closest analogy is to compare a road to a river. A river flows at a natural rate, restrict the flow and there are consequences. What lower speed limits do is restrict the traffic flow which adds to congestion while distracting motorists attention from getting safely to their destination to watching out for speed cameras.

We now have lower speed limits policed by revenue generating speed cameras which are seldom situated at the actual danger zones. Motorists no longer see speed cameras as safety devices.

Additionally, most motorists caught by speed cameras are not even aware that they exceeded the speed limit until weeks after the event when they receive a ticket in the mail. This is no deterrent to "speeding" and most offenders don't even know where they were trapped or where the so called black spot was supposed to be.

Clearly, other than the 2% factor, the main reasons why speed cameras cannot save lives in Australia, is that they are used for purposes other than safety. They are no longer seen as safety devices by the motoring public and have lost any safety benefits once offered.

They have no credibility and greedy governments have cried wolf too often.

Nearly 1600 people die below the speed cameras' radar each year.

Even if speed cameras were used for genuine road safety purposes they could not reduce the road toll by even 2% with impossible to achieve total speed limit compliance nationwide.

This, while little or nothing is seen to be done to save the nearly 1600 people who die in road crashes below the speed limit each year. A chart from the RARU study used to support speed cameras identifies that over 76% of crashes occur at or near intersections yet no recommendations were made in the study on how to reduce this 76% of crashes.

The studies used to justify speed cameras invariably draw the majority of their "speeding" data from below the speed limit.

Importantly, not only are speed cameras not reducing the road toll, based on the chart on the home page of this site, they are adding to it. The main reasons are:

• Motorists are now more fearful of being caught speeding than of having an accident. It used to be the other way around. Mental focus given to speed cameras and watching the speedometer means reduced focus on the prevailing traffic conditions and road ahead.
• When traveling at the same speed for prolonged periods on the open road, reduced awareness sets in leading to drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Check out an investigation by Bike Magazine on the SafeSpeed website.
• Motorists are being taught to think that provided they drive below the speed limit they are safe and therefore not as alert to ever present hazards outside of the false speed limit safety zone.

The current "driver reviver" campaigns are clear evidence of awareness of the problems caused by monotony and a repetitious mechanical hum. For people to be alert they need to be involved in the process. The number of passengers falling asleep soon after takeoff on an airliner are clear evidence of the hypnotic effect of a consistent mechanical and wind noise.

If governments have knowledge of their failed "speed kills" policy yet continue to implement even more draconian speed camera measures it means they have a different agenda to safety, or just don't care how many deaths their policy causes on our roads.

Their objectives may be zero tolerance law enforcement, getting us out of our vehicles and onto public transport, slowing us down so that the Third World can catch up or the greatest reason of all that causes politicians not to question the misleading reports - greed. Speed cameras have therefore been dubbed "Greed Cameras" by large sectors of the public.

Based on the facts presented here it is obvious to all free thinking people that speed cameras are not reducing the road toll and we need to start calling on our political leaders and motoring associations to take urgent action to help save the lives of nearly 1600 people killed below the speed limit each year. Not just the 2% above the speed limit.

Collisions kill.

It is human nature to perceive things differently to what they really are.

Many believe that UFO's are from another planet. The fact is "UFO" is an acronym for "Unidentified Flying Object". Most turn out to be weather balloons or conventional aircraft, a small percentage remain unidentified. There is no evidence that they are from another planet.

Current road safety policies are based on the premise that speed kills. This is an even greater miss-perception than the one about UFO's.

As you read this around 50,000 people are traveling in commercial aircraft at well over 800km/h somewhere around the world. Neil Armstrong traveled to the moon at over 40,000km/h.

The simple fact is, in spite of wide public perception fueled by government media campaigns, speed does not kill - collisions kill.

Prevent collisions.

The fact is there is no known speed at which the human body shuts down.

Another wrong perception is that the majority of road crashes occur above the speed limit. The reality is the vast majority, over 98%, occur below the speed limit.

Australian road safety policies need to be based on reality, scientific data, not a convenient but incorrect premise.

An incorrect premise cannot lead to anything other than an incorrect result.

Collisions kill, not speed. Anybody who tries to convince the public otherwise has not thought it through and is acting on incorrect advice.

Speed limits are essential but unfortunately they prevent very few road crashes.

A road safety policy based on preventing collisions is required. Distorted data used to support a predetermined "speed kills" lie is not saving lives.

Speed cameras don't stop dangerous driving.

Speed cameras cannot detect rapid acceleration through pedestrian intersections, vehicles doing burnouts in back streets at midnight or what used to be called dangerous driving - most of which occurs below the speed limit.

If the government studies do not provide "Above" and "Below" the speed limit data then how do the public, politicians and legislators know how many lives speed cameras can save? They don't.

Why do our governments and universities who create the studies go to such extreme lengths to disguise this data?

The reason is clearly that the number of crashes caused by responsible motorists traveling above the speed limit is inconsequential. We claim not even 2%.

This 2% still includes suicides, criminal activity and more. An article in the January 2005 issue of Wheels Magazine claims that police chases result in 1% of road fatalities. (Mostly for minor traffic offences.)

This means that not even 1% of road fatalities occur as a result of travel above the speed limit - or possibly 16 lives each year.

The most effective way to prevent dangerous driving is to have a more visible police presence on our roads - not hidden cameras.

RoadSense challenges.

In April 2003 RoadSense put up a very basic challenge, no percentages were called for. The challenge was that the site would publish any credible data showing that more crashes occurred above the speed limit than below it. There were no takers.

In December 2003 the RoadSense inspired book, "Under the Radar" made the claim that over 98% of road crash fatalities occurred below the speed limit.

This claim also remains unchallenged. We call for anybody, University, Government - anybody, to show us their credible figures.

Show us your above the limit data.

The required figures are for road crashes and fatalities "above the speed limit". NOT "speeding", "caused by speed", "involved excessive speed", were "speed related" or whatever terminology is used to add "below" the speed limit data to "above" the speed limit data.

Please provide us with your credible, segmented "above the speed limit" and "below the speed limit" data and we will publish it here.

Until such time as credible data is provided, the speed camera policy should be suspended.

Road safety - a vehicle for a different agenda.

We have to question the "speed kills" policy. If it was about safety then speed cameras would be situated precisely at black spots and clearly signposted in the lead up to and at the camera. Speed camera detectors would also be encouraged rather than being made illegal.

If we want to reduce the deaths on our roads then we need to insist that our politicians start taking urgent action. We also need to be asking our motoring associations, newspapers, radio and TV stations to create awareness of the truth and help save the nearly 1600 lives lost below the speed limit each year.

The facts and figures, which contradict the misleading data used to justify speed cameras, needs to be brought to the attention of the community. It is only through weight of public opinion that genuinely safer roads can be achieved.