‘Speed cameras should be put on every major road’
The 13-year-old Gregg McGuire was riding his bike when he was hit and fatally injured by driver Kayn Galer, travelling at 46mph in a 30mph zone. Galer had only been driving for nine months and had already had two police warnings over his poor driving[1].
While there will always be appalling drivers like Galer around, there needs to be more effective action to limit the suffering, injuries, damage and deaths they cause on our roads. He got nine months in a young offender institution for killing Gregg but will be out in four-and-a-half months. He also got a three-year driving ban. Three years is not very long.
More speed cameras on our roads would help weed out dangerous drivers by getting more of them banned from the roads and making it much more expensive for them to drive like fools. The introduction of new two-way speed cameras on our roads feels like a sure-fire means to make them safer for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians[2].
Every day it seems we report on crashes and fatalities on our roads[4], many of which are caused by excessive speed, one of the so-called ‘Fatal 4’, the others being drink driving, driving while on drugs and driving while distraction, which basically means being on your phone.
It is difficult to stop bad drivers messing with their phones but it is relatively easy to dissuade and stop bad drivers driving too fast because we have the technology. The likelihood is, however, that the people who mess about with their phones while driving do so because they fail to understand the significant risk they are running.
Their poor understanding of risk means that the people who mess about with their phones while driving are probably also the people who drive too fast.
Driving on roads known to have active speed cameras pretty much guarantees people stick to speed limits, with the exception of those driving stolen cars, of course. There are various roads where drivers know they’ll get a fine and points if they travel too far over the speed limit.
The risk of a financial penalty and the higher insurance costs that come from having points on your licence focuses people’s minds when they’re behind the wheel. It’s noticeable how careful drivers are on these roads. It’s also noticeable how careful drivers are when they’re on nine points. Twelve points triggers an automatic driving ban and points generally come in threes.
Only an idiot would break the speed limit in the knowledge they’ll get a fine and points, extra speed cameras would help either get these people banned from the roads or force them to learn to drive safely the hard way with repeated financial penalties. They are an effective stick.
Putting up hundreds more two-way speed cameras across the country would make a lot of people think more carefully about their driving, reduce crashes and make our roads safer for everyone as driver behaviour changes. The fines brought in would go a long way to covering the installation cost.
There are 7,000 fixed-speed cameras in the UK although it has been reported that only half of them work. The more speed cameras there are, over time, the fewer speed-related accidents there will be.
Driving to quickly means drivers have less time to react if there’s a problem on the road and so are more likely to crash. Higher speeds also increase the risk of serious injury in a collision so we have a double whammy. I have been hit by a car and it really hurts, even at low speeds. You can read about it here if you like[5].
Roughly one person a day dies on UK roads because of excessive speed. As well as the 350 people who die on our roads due to speeding drivers, around 2,500 people are seriously injured.
There is a multiplier effect. It’s not just the number of fatalities that will be reduced by creating strong incentives for limiting drivers’ speeds. The severity of crash injuries will be reduced too, as will the burden on the emergency services, the NHS, the courts and, most importantly, the heartache of grieving families.
It’s too late for Gregg McGuire and the countless victims like him. Reading his story should be incentive enough for people to limit their speed while driving. Sadly, it is not, and a big increase in the prevalence of speed cameras feels like the only proven way we can reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on UK roads.