A9 DRIVER SAFETY SET TO IMPROVE AS AVERAGE SPEED CAMERAS INSTALLED

This latest phase will see columns, cameras and infrared lighting masts erected on the single carriageway sections with a total of 27 sites along the route.

As the equipment is installed engineers will commence the testing and calibration of the equipment prior to it going live in October.

The Average Speed Camera System is one of a number of measures that have been promoted by the A9 Safety Group in a bid to improve safety in recent years.

More than £137 million has been invested in safety and structural improvements on the route since 2007. This includes improved consistency of signing and lining, improved geometry and safety barrier works as well as variable messaging signs displaying journey times.

The ASCS is being supplied and installed by Vysionics, on behalf of Transport Scotland.

Stewart Leggett Chair of the A9 safety Group said:

“The A9 Safety Group is clear that the deployment of average speed cameras on the A9 will improve safety for all users by improving driver behaviour and reducing the unacceptable levels of speeding currently recorded on the route. Average speed cameras have proven effective in reducing casualties where they have been deployed and they are a key part of the wider plan to improve the safety of everyone using the A9, both in advance of, and during the dualling of this vital route.

“The average speed camera system is only a small part of the overall investment making up the interim safety plan for the A9. We are committed to maintaining the route and managing its safe and effective use, both before and during the forthcoming dualling programme.”

Notes to editors

  • Over one third of cars and 95% of HGVs are currently speeding. This is in spite of the current levels of enforcement by Police Scotland and the Safety Camera partnerships. Of the offences recorded by them, over 90% are typically speed related. (they recorded around 4,000 offences during a period last year, over 3,800 of which were speed related)

  • Where average speed cameras have been deployed elsewhere, they have supported safety improvements. On the A77, which is a combination of single and dual carriageway, they saw the number of fatal casualties fall by 46% and serious injury casualties by 35%, comparing the 3 years after deployment with the three years before.

  • On the single carriageways between Perth and Inverness, the ratio of accidents involving death or serious injury is significantly higher than the national average. The average speed cameras are targeting these sections as a result.

  • South of Perth, the cameras are being deployed on dual carriageway, focusing on areas around junctions where the accidents are most widely recorded.

  • The Average Speed Camera System is the SPECS3 system which is being supplied and installed by Vysionics who are a leading supplier of average speed systems in the UK and other locations across the world.

Published 26 May 2014