A survey from IAM Drive & Survive shows how the most frequent users of UK roads really feel about speed cameras
A study conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM)’s Drive & Survive division has revealed that high-mileage drivers are more likely to think that speed cameras have ‘little or no influence’ in reducing casualties on UK roads than any other type of road users.
The study, entitled Speed Cameras – The Views of High Mileage Drivers, also revealed that 28 per cent of high-mileage drivers have a negative view of speed cameras – which equates to ten per cent more than lower-mileage drivers.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, over 50 per cent of high-mileage drivers questioned think that speed cameras are little more than ‘a money making tool’, which is more than any other category of road user.
With more than 6,000 speed cameras across the UK in operation, the report explained that the time was right to ask if there was any greater acceptance of them amongst the drivers who spend the most time on the roads. But this was not the case as 60 per cent of the high-mileage drivers surveyed think there are other, less known reasons why speed cameras had been installed, not just to monitor accident blackspots, in comparison to the 39 percent of medium mileage drivers and 47 percent of low-mileage drivers thinking the same.
It’s also high-mileage drivers that are the most split on whether the money generated from speed awareness courses should be used to fund the operation of speed cameras.
Topping the group again, over a quarter of drivers who spend more time on the roads believe that speed cameras haven’t played a part in reducing the number of road casualties. In fact, 27 per cent of UK’s most frequent road users think this, which is significantly higher than the 20 per cent of medium-mileage drivers and just 16 per cent of low-mileage drivers who also hold the same view.
When asked how acceptable is it for authorities to use speed cameras at the side of the road to identify those vehicles involved in speeding offences, 28 per cent of high mileage drivers thought it was unacceptable, in comparison to the 18 per cent of medium-mileage drivers and 17 per cent of low-mileage drivers.
The IAM Drive & Survive survey studied the views of 1,001 high, medium and low-mileage drivers. It came to light that just one in six low mileage drivers are sceptical about the positive influence of speed cameras, but a higher one in four high-mileage drivers are also skeptical.
IAM chief executive officer, Sarah Sillars, said: “It is clear that there is a very big task when it comes to making high-mileage drivers see the worth of measures to reduce overspeeding. While we know that speeding is not the only cause of accidents and injuries, it is one of the major ones.”
