Speed has long been recognised as a significant factor in road accidents. The 1991 Road Traffic Act in allowing the use of automatic camera enforcement, has made it practical to envisage using speed enforcement more heavily as an effective way of influencing driver behaviour. The basic principle of operation of the automatic speed detection system is well known. This study is an examination of the research background to automatic enforcement, and identifies the constraints to the wider use of the new enforcement methods. After a review of the evidence relating the relationship between speed and accident risk, the study findings are presented in four main subject areas: (i) policy and funding; (ii) technology (type approval is currently limited to the GATSO/ROBOT system); (iii) enforcement strategy; and (iv) processing the offence data. The factual information on which the report is based is contained in five appendices: (1) extracts from Home Office and Department of Transport advice relating to the automatic enforcement aspects of the 1991 Road Traffic Act; (2) the relationship between speed and accidents: an overview; (3) a review of the literature on enforcement; (4) the technology available for the automatic detection of speeding violations; and (5) identifying and processing speed and red-running offenders using cameras.
Abstract