Should fixed speed cameras be axed? Report says they cause 80% of UK's dangerous braking blackspots

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It's a common sight on our roads: a driver rounds a bend, spots a speed camera and stamps on the brakes in a state of panic, creating a domino effect for the cars following.

As well as being incredibly irritating it's become a potentially dangerous daily occurrence on our roads since the first gatso was erected a quarter of a century ago.

And new data has found that the problem is creating serious road safety implications with four in five of the 'braking blackspots' on UK roads being at locations with a speed camera. 

So should fixed speed cameras be banned and replaced with other measures, such as average speed cameras instead? 

Brake-light blackspot: New research found that four in five locations where drivers hit the brakes hardest are overlooked by speed cameras

Why is it claimed speed cameras are dangerous? 

Risk solutions company and telematics specialist Wunelli has reviewed telematic data for more than a billion miles of driving on British roads, discovering that 80 per cent of 'excessive' braking takes place when a driver approaches a camera.

Excessive braking is identified as a drop in speed of 6.5mph or more in the space of a second. The figures showed that hard braking increased six fold on average at speed camera sites.

Of course, much of the issue is caused by drivers travelling too fast in the first place, in many cases having to decelerate rapidly to reduce their pace to the legal limit.

However, Wunelli said the data suggests that speed cameras create more dangerous driving behaviour rather than making roads safer - and generating funds for the government, of course.

But would average speed cameras be better? 

As a result, Wunelli has called for fixed speed cameras to be abolished just days before Road Safety Week kicks off in the UK (21 to 27 November).

The firm said a combination of average speed cameras - which it claims moderate driving speeds in a safer way.

Paul Stacy, founding director at Wunelli, said: 'Unlike fixed on-the-spot cameras which we estimate can cause a large number of drivers to slam on their brakes, average-speed cameras encourage much steadier driving.'

The advent of more average speed cameras may not be welcomed by motorists eager to get rid of fixed cameras, however.

While fixed cameras allow people to slow down just for at that point, average speed cameras compel drivers to stick to the limit consistently, or face a fine and points. 

The number of motorists caught speeding on smart motorway sections of some of the UK's busiest roads, which are covered by variable speed cameras that only operate when a lower speed limit is being enforced, increased by 2,500 per cent in five years, a BBC report found.

The investigation found that 52,516 fixed penalty fines were issued for exceeding the speed limit on eleven sections of smart motorway last year.

That compared to just 2,023 on the same stretches of the M1, M25, M4, M42 and M6 between 2010 and 2011, before they were upgraded to feature variable speed limits and use of the hard shoulder during times of heavy congestion.

The government has rolled out smart motorways, much of which are covered by average speed cameras. These are the spots where drivers are most likely to be caught speeding

Wunelli has called for fixed speed cameras to be remove, though it has no issue with average speed camera checks. The first on-the-spot camera was installed in the UK in 1992

Can blackbox insurance help? 

Telematics-based insurance, often referred to as blackbox, involves tracking car's speed and driving, with careful drivers rewarded.

Wunelli says that the wider introduction of telematics insurance policies would create fewer hazardous scenarios on the road. 

This would, of course, benefit Wunelli which provides telematics solutions to the insurance industry.

Paul Stacy, founding director at Wunelli, said the data it had collected from 5,353 vehicles driving over a three year period between 2011 and 2014 supported making telematic policies compulsory for new motorists. 

He said: 'Telematics based insurance can also support a reduction in speeding and accidents. It is for this reason we are keen to see telematics become mandatory for young drivers. 

'Our analysis shows that deterrents such as speed cameras don’t create good driving behaviours – drivers need to be incentivised to drive well and the most successful telematics based insurance products provide those incentives through personalised feedback, rewards and competitive premiums.'

Wunelli’s analysis of driving data collected over three years (2011-2014), includes 8,809 separate journeys in 5,353 vehicles. 

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