Casualties halved along A6 road

Casualties have reduced by 46 per cent in the last year along the busy A6 commuter route between Bedford and Luton - since the introduction of fixed and mobile speed cameras.

This equates to 47 fewer people being affected by either death or serious injury on Bedfordshire’s roads.

"The reduction in speeding vehicles on this route has led to the largest casualty reduction figures we have seen throughout Bedfordshire and Luton," says Linda Ellis, the Partnership’s communications manager. "We have also seen a ‘halo effect’ on neighbouring roads with average speeds recorded on these roads also reducing by 10 per cent.

"This significant casualty reduction has been due to a combination of new safety cameras and advisory information signs showing the casualty history, along with local speed awareness campaigns."

In the three year period 1999-2001 this stretch of road had a casualty history of 104 people killed or seriously injured (KSI). Because speed was identified as one of the main contributory factors eight new fixed camera sites were installed in June 2002. In the first month following installation the average number of vehicles going through the cameras in excess of the legal speed limit was in the region of around 1000 each day. By February 2004, on average just two vehicles per day are being detected exceeding the legal speed limit - out of the 7,000 vehicles using the road.

The effectiveness of cameras along this route was recently featured on Anglia Television’s current affairs programme ‘The East Wing’. Three MPs from the eastern region debated the speed camera issue in the House of Commons.

"Overall the MP’s were in support of safety cameras on our roads, especially in areas where there is a history of casualties," Linda Ellis says. "They also discussed public opinion with regard to safety cameras. Nationally around 75 per cent of people support their use, but in Bedfordshire and Luton 78 per cent of people surveyed ‘supported safety cameras as a means of reducing casualties on our roads’."