Nearly half of Britain’s speed cameras turned off

Nearly half of Britain’s speed cameras have been switched off, according to a report by The Sun.

The tabloid newspaper found that 1,522 of the nation’s 3,189 cameras were not operational last year, accounting for 48 per cent of all safety camera sites – and up from 37 per cent and 32 per cent in 2010 and 2009 respectively.

Speed cameras 20 years old

Speed cameras – everything you need to know

The reduction in working speed cameras follows a £38 million reduction in funding by the Government as a result of their pledge to “end the war on the motorist” in 2010.

Many safety camera partnerships have, however, left the units in place to act as a deterrent to speeding drivers.

Even this is controversial though: it is thought that inactive cameras could lead to motorists slamming on their brakes, potentially causing an accident – a counter argument to the speed camera that has been prevalent since the introduction of the Gatso camera in the UK in 1992.

It was found Avon and Somerset pulled the plug on all of its 69 units in April 2011, with a 31 per cent associated reduction in accident rates where speed was an influencing factor.

In the London area 565 of 754 cameras have been turned off, accounting for 75 per cent of all the localities speed controlling measures. Contrary to that, Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Essex and Greater Manchester continued to employ all of their existing camera locations in 2011.

Speed cameras 20 years old

Speed cameras – everything you need to know