Swindon's safest roads with NO safety cameras
Discussion
A Wiltshire town that decided to get rid of its speed cameras has the safest roads in Britain, a report has revealed.
Swindon, which scrapped its speed cameras in July 2009 to save on council costs and trial other traffic calming measures, has just two accidents per thousand registered vehicles on its roads - the lowest rate in the UK. The town became the first English local authority to decommission fixed cameras, although it decided to maintain mobile cameras used by police.
In contrast, The City of London – which still uses fixed cameras - has more than 45 times the amount of accidents with 90.9 per thousand registered vehicles involved in prangs.
“We are delighted Swindon has come out so well in this research because we take road safety extremely seriously,” a Swindon Borough Council spokesman told Yahoo! News.
“When we removed our speed cameras it allowed us to put extra funding into other road safety measures and this research appears to back up the work we have been doing with the police.”
Swindon saw little change to the number of accidents after the cameras were scrapped, with no fatalities in the six months following their removal.
Taxpayers’ Alliance campaign director Emma Boon said: “This is more evidence that speed cameras are not the answer to making Britain’s roads safer. The cameras result in fines that represent a significant burden on drivers on the basis of how fast they are driving on one stretch of road, but we need a broader, more effective approach to road safety policy.
“Local authorities should follow Swindon’s example and move to focus on other road safety measures aside from speed”.
The research by insurance firm Stavely Head, compiled from Department of Transport figures, reveals that London’s roads are by far the worst for road safety, with 11 of the UK’s most dangerous 15 boroughs in the capital. Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Brighton also feature in the most dangerous road list.
“We hope that by revealing the Local Authorities with the highest accident rates, more will be done by local councils to make our roads safer”, said Ashley Peters, Director of Staveley Head.
“Around three quarters of road traffic accidents nationwide occur when weather conditions are good, which is a clear indicator that a large proportion of these accidents could be avoided.”
Local Authorities with Safest Roads:
Local Authorities with Safest Roads:
Local Authority
Accident rate per thousand registered vehicles
1. Swindon 2.0
2. Bracknell Forest 2.4
3. West Berkshire 2.4
4. Solihull 2.5
5. Stockport 2.6
6. Slough 2.6
7. Trafford 2.7
8. Wiltshire UA 2.8
9. Wokingham 3.0
10. Stockton on Tees 3.0
Local Authorities with Most Dangerous Roads:
Local Authority
Accident rate per thousand registered vehicles
1. City of London 90.9
2. Westminster 20.9
3. Tower Hamlets 17.2
4. Islington 16.7
5. Hackney 15.5
6. Camden 14.7
7. Southwark 14.0
8. Kensington and Chelsea 13.8
9. Hammersmith and Fulham 11.9
10. Haringey 10.9
11. Newham 10.3
12. Nottingham 9.5
13. Manchester 9.3
14. Liverpool 8.7
15. Brighton and Hove 8.5
Swindon, which scrapped its speed cameras in July 2009 to save on council costs and trial other traffic calming measures, has just two accidents per thousand registered vehicles on its roads - the lowest rate in the UK. The town became the first English local authority to decommission fixed cameras, although it decided to maintain mobile cameras used by police.
In contrast, The City of London – which still uses fixed cameras - has more than 45 times the amount of accidents with 90.9 per thousand registered vehicles involved in prangs.
“We are delighted Swindon has come out so well in this research because we take road safety extremely seriously,” a Swindon Borough Council spokesman told Yahoo! News.
“When we removed our speed cameras it allowed us to put extra funding into other road safety measures and this research appears to back up the work we have been doing with the police.”
Swindon saw little change to the number of accidents after the cameras were scrapped, with no fatalities in the six months following their removal.
Taxpayers’ Alliance campaign director Emma Boon said: “This is more evidence that speed cameras are not the answer to making Britain’s roads safer. The cameras result in fines that represent a significant burden on drivers on the basis of how fast they are driving on one stretch of road, but we need a broader, more effective approach to road safety policy.
“Local authorities should follow Swindon’s example and move to focus on other road safety measures aside from speed”.
The research by insurance firm Stavely Head, compiled from Department of Transport figures, reveals that London’s roads are by far the worst for road safety, with 11 of the UK’s most dangerous 15 boroughs in the capital. Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Brighton also feature in the most dangerous road list.
“We hope that by revealing the Local Authorities with the highest accident rates, more will be done by local councils to make our roads safer”, said Ashley Peters, Director of Staveley Head.
“Around three quarters of road traffic accidents nationwide occur when weather conditions are good, which is a clear indicator that a large proportion of these accidents could be avoided.”
Local Authorities with Safest Roads:
Local Authorities with Safest Roads:
Local Authority
Accident rate per thousand registered vehicles
1. Swindon 2.0
2. Bracknell Forest 2.4
3. West Berkshire 2.4
4. Solihull 2.5
5. Stockport 2.6
6. Slough 2.6
7. Trafford 2.7
8. Wiltshire UA 2.8
9. Wokingham 3.0
10. Stockton on Tees 3.0
Local Authorities with Most Dangerous Roads:
Local Authority
Accident rate per thousand registered vehicles
1. City of London 90.9
2. Westminster 20.9
3. Tower Hamlets 17.2
4. Islington 16.7
5. Hackney 15.5
6. Camden 14.7
7. Southwark 14.0
8. Kensington and Chelsea 13.8
9. Hammersmith and Fulham 11.9
10. Haringey 10.9
11. Newham 10.3
12. Nottingham 9.5
13. Manchester 9.3
14. Liverpool 8.7
15. Brighton and Hove 8.5
I have to say that whilst I'm not in favour of speed cameras drawing a direct comparison between Swindon and London is about as dumb a comparison as can be made.
Anyone who has been to London has seen the night and day difference in the way people drive compared to other places. I'm genuinely apprehensive about driving there simply because you need to be far more aggressive to actually make progress, and in turn people are far more aggressive with you. That's not to say they are naturally more aggressive people just that in my experience if you aren't forcing your way into traffic you'll be sat giving way for an eternity. Is it any wonder therefore that this aggression leads to more frequent knocks?
Swindon by comparison you could drive around in whilst asleep (probably).
Anyone who has been to London has seen the night and day difference in the way people drive compared to other places. I'm genuinely apprehensive about driving there simply because you need to be far more aggressive to actually make progress, and in turn people are far more aggressive with you. That's not to say they are naturally more aggressive people just that in my experience if you aren't forcing your way into traffic you'll be sat giving way for an eternity. Is it any wonder therefore that this aggression leads to more frequent knocks?
Swindon by comparison you could drive around in whilst asleep (probably).
Durzel said:
I have to say that whilst I'm not in favour of speed cameras drawing a direct comparison between Swindon and London is about as dumb a comparison as can be made.
Anyone who has been to London has seen the night and day difference in the way people drive compared to other places. I'm genuinely apprehensive about driving there simply because you need to be far more aggressive to actually make progress, and in turn people are far more aggressive with you. That's not to say they are naturally more aggressive people just that in my experience if you aren't forcing your way into traffic you'll be sat giving way for an eternity. Is it any wonder therefore that this aggression leads to more frequent knocks?
Swindon by comparison you could drive around in whilst asleep (probably).
This is the problem, speed cameras do nothing about agressive drivers unless they fly through a live camera. What Swindon has done is to use the money on things like improving junctions and looking at blackspots to remove the cause not just stick up a camera.Anyone who has been to London has seen the night and day difference in the way people drive compared to other places. I'm genuinely apprehensive about driving there simply because you need to be far more aggressive to actually make progress, and in turn people are far more aggressive with you. That's not to say they are naturally more aggressive people just that in my experience if you aren't forcing your way into traffic you'll be sat giving way for an eternity. Is it any wonder therefore that this aggression leads to more frequent knocks?
Swindon by comparison you could drive around in whilst asleep (probably).
London drivers are very aggressive, unforgiving and that will only change with the drivers attitude.
Yes (sorry should have made that clear). I haven't really noticed any changes to be honest. The 3 roads we had them on:
One is a 40mph dual lane road with loads of turnings to estates all controlled by traffic lights so it's stop start anyway. Until you get past the last traffic lights and the normal speed is about 50-55.
The next was a 30mph main road with houses on either side, most people stick to 30 as they did with the cameras on.
The third is a 50mph A road out of the town, it goes straight past a police station so everyone sticks to 50, then you enter Oxfordshire and there are cameras everywhere (theirs are still switched on).
So all in all nothing has really changed
One is a 40mph dual lane road with loads of turnings to estates all controlled by traffic lights so it's stop start anyway. Until you get past the last traffic lights and the normal speed is about 50-55.
The next was a 30mph main road with houses on either side, most people stick to 30 as they did with the cameras on.
The third is a 50mph A road out of the town, it goes straight past a police station so everyone sticks to 50, then you enter Oxfordshire and there are cameras everywhere (theirs are still switched on).
So all in all nothing has really changed
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