Work to start on installing four new average speed enforcement cameras in Warwickshire

Work is due to start on installing Average Speed Enforcement Cameras at the A435 Studley on 20 June, as part of a plan to make Warwickshire’s roads even safer.  

The stretch of road affected will be from Studley Cricket club, heading south to the junction with the A422, Arrow.    

In the weeks that follow, Average Speed Enforcement Cameras will also be installed at the following locations:   

•         A446: From the junction with the A38, to the junction with the A4091.  
•         A426: From M6 Junction 1, to the junction with the A5.   
•         A428: From junction with the A46, through Binley Woods village.  

These routes have been chosen because a high number of personal injury collisions caused by excessive vehicle speeds have occurred here. Over a five year period, 129 personal injury collisions have occurred along these routes.   

The full suite of cameras, which will be operated by the Police, is expected to be fully up and running by December.   

In Warwickshire, between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2020, 39 people were killed and 285 seriously injured in collisions where speed and/or loss of control was recorded as a contributory factor.  During 2020, despite the lockdown periods when roads were quieter, 14 people lost their lives in Warwickshire as the result of a road traffic collision. Another 228 people suffered serious, often life changing injuries.  

Research shows that Average Speed Enforcement Cameras are very effective at helping reduce vehicle speeds and improving driver behaviour.   Road Safety Analysis  found that on average, the number of fatal and serious collisions decreases by 36% after average speed cameras are introduced, while personal injury collisions of all severities are reduced by 16%.     

Instead of capturing speed in a single flash, Average Speed Cameras work by recording a vehicle’s speed at the entry and exit points of the route, and then calculating the average speed over the length of the route. Vehicles are identified through Automatic Number Plate Recognition.    

Cllr Wallace Redford, Portfolio holder for Road Safety said:  

“Warwickshire County Council has the primary responsibility for monitoring and improving road safety and making our roads as safe as they can be. Average Speed Enforcement Cameras have been shown to improve safety and save lives. Drivers travelling at higher speeds have less time to identify and react to what is happening around them. It takes longer for the vehicle to stop, and the crash will be more severe, causing greater injury to the occupants and any pedestrian or rider hit by the vehicle. As well as improving safety, the cameras also help manage traffic flow, which in turn leads to reduced traffic congestion and improved air quality.”    

Partners including Warwickshire Police, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service and National Highways, are working together as Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership to reduce death and injury on our roads.  

Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership is committed to seeing longer term reductions in these figures, with our new Strategy setting the ambitious target of a 50% reduction in road deaths and serious injuries by 2030. We can only do this if everyone plays their part, so please join us in our pledge to become better road users and do everything you can to help prevent collisions from occurring.  Please follow us on Facebook @warwickshireroadsafety and Twitter @WarksRoadSafety and please visit our website www.warksroadsafety.org.  

For more information contact: [email protected]