Press Release

27 September 2005

Embargoed until 0.01 hrs on 30 September

Would a speed camera have saved James Dean?

On 30th September, the 50th anniversary of James Dean's death in a head on car crash, a Safety Camera Pack is being launched by RoadPeace and the Slower Speeds Initiative - to highlight the problem of speeding, the facts about camera operations and effectiveness, and the public's support for cameras.

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and Jenny Jones, Green party London Assembly Member and the Mayor's Road Safety Ambassador, are supporting the launch of this Briefing as an important tool in saving lives through bringing objective information to the speed camera debate.

Aged only 24, James Dean was on his way to a race in his Porsche; he never got there - the trip ended in his untimely death, like that of so many other young, talented and beautiful people, killed in road crashes before and after him.

Speeding is the leading contributory factor in fatal road crashes and the severity of injuries. Speeding traffic is also the leading cause of traffic fear and the reason why more people do not cycle, children's play is restricted and older people are isolated.

Speed cameras have been proven, time and again, to reduce speeding and save lives. They offer the benefit of round the clock enforcement without the risk of high- speed pursuits. They also have the advantage of being self-financing, with offenders - and not the law abiding public - paying for their operational costs. Yet, because cameras are so effective at detecting and deterring speeding, they have been attacked by those used to flouting speed limits and promoting speeding. This Briefing summarises the evidence and arguments for speed cameras.

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said:
"RoadPeace's new safety camera pack contains important information on the effectiveness of safety cameras, which will be invaluable for people interested in tackling speeding traffic. In London, safety cameras have been responsible for reducing deaths and serious injuries by more than 20 per cent, helping us to almost meet our 2010 road safety targets a full five years early. However, 216 deaths a year is totally unacceptable and I have raised this target to an even more challenging 50 per cent reduction. Safety cameras will play a vital role in helping us meet this."

Jenny Jones, London Assembly member and Mayor's Road Safety Ambassador, said:
"Irresponsible driving such as speeding is responsible for more violent deaths than gun and knife crime combined. This is totally unacceptable; we must have a target of not having a single death or serious injury on our roads. We can do this by more use of technologies, such as safety cameras, which have reduced casualty crashes by between 11 and 43% where they have been sited, by more driver education and by increased road policing. Good progress has already been made, but we must keep up the pressure to reduce road crime and violence."

Amy Aeron-Thomas, the author of the publication, said:
"Transport for London's 'Don't die before you have lived' campaign could have been inspired by James Dean. Dead at age 24, he had only starred in three movies. While his life may have been unique, his death was not - road crashes are the leading cause of death for young men."

Paige Mitchell, Coordinator of the Slower Speeds Initiative, said:
"We need to dispel the damaging and bogus arguments against cameras, since drivers who believe them will be more likely to speed. And all the research shows that drivers who speed are more likely to crash."

Brigitte Chaudhry, President of RoadPeace, said:
"We would like journalists in particular to read our pack and publicise its contents widely. There is more evidence documenting the effectiveness of speed cameras than any other road safety measure. Hundreds of people are alive today, whose lives were saved by cameras. Many more have been spared disability, while others, including children, are able to walk and cycle with a little less fear and risk from speeding traffic."

Contacts:

RoadPeace office 020 8838 5102. Jenny Jones 020 7983 4358

Amy Aeron-Thomas 07905 847 917. Brigitte Chaudhry 020 8964 1800

Camera campaigners: Allan Ramsay 0161 280 6055. Andrea Casalotti 020 7637 4004

Notes to Editors:

The Speed Camera Publication has been produced with sponsorship from KeyMed, a medical company concerned about the effects of speeding.

Key points highlighted in the publication:

• Speeding is involved in almost twice as many deaths as drink driving, and in 12 times as many deaths as gun crime.
• Less than 1% of UK's road network has speed limits enforced - 80% by cameras.
• Fixed speed cameras are only allowed at sites where there have been four separate fatal or serious injury crashes, plus speeding is a problem and no other engineering or educational measure appropriate.
• The European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) defines high risk roads those with one fatal or serious injury collision per mile in three years
• The total camera revenue in 2003 (£120 million) was equal to 10% of the DfT road safety budget - less than 1% of the national cost of road crashes.
• Only £20 million (VAT equivalent) of the 2003 camera revenue went to Treasury.
• 9 UK studies have evaluated speed cameras and found them to be effective.
• The public have consistently supported speed cameras; speeding traffic was listed the top anti-social behaviour problem in a recent British Crime Survey.

The Safer Streets Coalition supports the Safety Camera publication.

Safety camera endorsements from this Coalition, representing 29 social justice organisations from all sectors of society:

Sustrans is a practical charity which implements solutions to the problems of car dependency. Our work involves sustainable communities, planning for carbon emission reduction, and promoting higher levels of cycling and walking.

High and inappropriate speed threatens our work. We believe greater use of speed cameras promotes sustainable transport, helps casualty reduction, and improves the public perception of safety on our roads. Don Mathew.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine: LSHTM is a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Violence & Injury Prevention. LSHTM collaborated closely with the WHO in the preparation of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention. The recommendations in the World Report were based of the best available scientific evidence and this evidence shows clearly the central role of high vehicle speeds in the causation of road traffic injuries. Speed cameras are effective in reducing vehicle speeds and so we strongly endorse their use in the prevention of road traffic injury. Professor Ian Roberts, Head, WHO Collaborating Centre on Injury Prevention

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents: RoSPA strongly supports the use of speed cameras. They are a very effective way of discouraging drivers from breaking the speed limit, and so reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured. Cameras cut the number of drivers that exceed speed limits and reduce the level of excessive speed by those who persist in speeding. Cameras save lives - they reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured at camera sites by 40% and are especially good at protecting pedestrians. Cameras prevent crashes from happening in the first place - they reduce the number of collisions at the sites where they are placed by about one third. Kevin Clinton RoSPA Road Safety Adviser

As motorists we at the ETA want the reduction of road danger. Most road danger is caused by motorists to pedestrians and cyclists. We need properly enforced lower speed limits, in urban areas and country lanes, to reduce that danger. Used appropriately, speed cameras are a cost effective method of reducing speed. Andrew Davis, ETA

Statement from Living Streets, the national charity campaigning for better streets and public space for people on foot: Streets and roads have to be safe for everybody who uses them - pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. Speeding drivers endanger lives and put people off doing many of the things we ought to take for granted like enjoying a walk, strolling to the shops, meeting neighbours or letting our children play outside. Speed cameras have been proven to be effective in saving lives and reducing the number of people seriously injured at camera sites. We must support them as one of the key ways to reducing road danger. Hester Brown, Press and Parliamentary Officer

Safety cameras are an important element of speed management. Independent research around the world has shown that they save lives and reduce speeds, thereby benefiting all road users. Robert Gifford, Director, Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety (PACTS)

We fully support speed cameras and other initiatives that aim to make the roads safer for pedestrians. Jacquetta Fewster, Director of Campaigns, The Ramblers' Association.

Transport 2000 is an independent environmental organisation campaigning for sustainable transport policies. Studies prove that safety cameras reduce speeding and road casualties, and polls repeatedly show that more than 70 per cent of the public support the use of cameras. Transport 2000 would like to see safety cameras used more widely, to make our roads safer for everyone. Linda Beard, Streets and Traffic Campaigner

CTC - the UK's national cyclists' organisation: Reducing driving speeds enables cyclists to feel that they can mix with motor vehicles in relative safety. As a cycling organisation keen to see road conditions becoming more attractive to people using, or thinking of taking up, such a healthy, sustainable form of transport, we thoroughly support widespread use of speed cameras: they slow drivers down, save lives and are an effective tool in law enforcement. Roger Geffen, Campaigns and Policy Manager

From the Coalition's Manifesto, re speeding:
Enforcement of speed limits is to be given a much higher priority e.g. through the use of cameras, more resources for the traffic police, and more frequent and stiffer penalties for speeding offences, to act as a deterrent.

The global scale of road death and injury:

• Over 1 million road deaths each year
• Over 10 million people permanently disabled
• Over 3000 killed EVERY day - equivalent to a daily 9/11 tragedy
• 70% of road deaths occur to those under 45 years old.
• Road traffic injury is second leading cause of ill health and premature death of young men (15-44 years), after HIV/AIDS.
• For every road death, 4 people are permanently disabled, 30 require emergency room treatment and 10 are hospitalised