Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\FacebookOpenGraph.xslt Mike Waters' blog: 13 February - Keep your eyes peeled
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Mike Waters' blog: 13 February - Keep your eyes peeled

Date: 13 February 2015

Mike Waters is senior insight & consultancy manager at Arval, the leading vehicle leasing and fleet management company

There's been a fairly negative reaction from drivers to a new breed of hard-to-spot speed cameras and it's no surprise when you look at how many drivers are getting caught.

On the M4 more than 500 speeding drivers fell foul of average speed cameras in just five days while on the M25 nearly 700 drivers were caught in two months.

These new, hi-tech cameras are different for several reasons. They are grey and mounted on tall poles making them much harder to spot than more traditional, bright yellow cameras.

They also have the capacity to record several lanes of traffic rather than just one. In short, they increase the chances that unsuspecting drivers will get caught.

It's important to take a balanced view to these cameras because there's no doubt that speed is a factor in collisions and it's important that drivers stick to the speed limits. Average speed cameras are also thought to be better at encouraging traffic to flow rather than creating congestion pinch points at locations where a camera is mounted.

This means that the onus is on the driver to make sure that they know the roads they travel on. Driving legally and safely will limit (or eliminate the chances of a fine), and so will knowing the speed limits for given sections of road as well as understanding where the limit is variable.

We hope that speed cameras catch reckless drivers that are consistently going at speeds significantly above the limit. Those drivers that we feel more sorry for are unsuspecting motorists who are either not aware of the limit for the road that they are on or are caught out when the limit on a road is changeable.

 No one wants to incur a fine or points on their license, but this new type of camera increases the chances, so being alert to the rules of the roads that you are on and a sound awareness of variable speed limits will definitely pay off.

 



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