Police have revealed that the Average speed cameras on the A14 near Cambridge are to be extended.
A six-mile extension to the scheme - which already covers 17 miles from the Spittals interchange near Huntingdon (j23) to Girton (j31) - has already been approved, extending the Specs cameras out to Fen Ditton (j34). The project will go out to tender in the New Year.
The scheme has undeniably significantly reduced casualties along the route - deaths and serious injuries have been cut by 68 per cent. To put that into context, 40 people were killed or seriously injured between 15 July 2004 and 15 December 15 2006 in what is now the average speed check section, but from 15 July 2007 to 15 December 2009 that fell to 13.
The cameras have apparently saved £4.3m each year in repairs and emergency services work after crashes, too.
But speaking to Cambridge-News, Inspector Clinton Hale, manager of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Road Safety Camera Unit, admitted that the Specs system isn't perfect: "The big problem we'll still see on the road is tailgating but new technology has been developed to deal with the problem."
That's presumably a reference to the new Asset cameras currently being tested in Finland, which can log up to five different motoring offences at once.
The pro-motoring group the Association of British Drivers (ABD) also called into question the validity of citing the Specs cameras as the sole reason for the drop in casualties.
Speaking to PistonHeads, a spokesman for the ABD said: "We suspect there is more to these figures than just the average speed cameras - there must be other elements that have helped reduce casualties. Average speed cameras just make drivers stressed and tired."