This is the message from the Vision Zero South West road safety partnership after it emerged, during a BBC Panorama programme, that some areas of the UK have no working fixed speed cameras at all.
Superintendent Adrian Leisk, strategic lead for roads policing in the Devon and Cornwall force, said: “We operate more than 80 active speed cameras, including a mixture of traditional cameras and average speed detection systems.
“On top of this, we also have 12 dedicated Speed Detection Officers (SDOs) who can operate at mobile locations throughout the region, as well as an army of Community Speed Watch volunteers who work tirelessly to keep their communities safe.
“We know speed cameras work to reduce speeding and that speed is a contributory factor in many, many collisions.
“I want to reassure the vast majority of safe and considerate drivers in Devon and Cornwall that our speed cameras, mobile and static, are very much working and detecting speeding motorists. This not only enables us to prosecute those driving at dangerously high speeds but importantly enables us to refer the vast majority into driver education training as an alternative to prosecution which we know changes behaviour and reduces the risk of an offender subsequently having a crash which is at the heart of our approach to monitoring and enforcement of high-risk driving behaviour.”
The Panorama programme revealed that fatality rates nationally had risen by 5%, and the programme suggested this may be in part down to the lack of working cameras.
However, in Devon and Cornwall the number of fatalities dropped from 48 in 2019 to 44 in 2020 (the most recent figures available).
A Freedom of Information request by BBC Panorama, answered by 26 out of 44 forces, revealed that almost half of their fixed speed cameras are not working.
One force reported having no fixed or mobile cameras, relying solely on handheld cameras, while other forces said they have no fixed speed cameras working at all.
Supt Leisk said that in Devon and Cornwall, the number of dedicated police constables specialising in roads policing has more than doubled - from 25 to 52 - as a result of the national police officer Uplift recruitment programme.
He said: “There are now also 14 officers allocated to two ‘No Excuse’ teams actively using intelligence to identify and target the most dangerous drivers. 144 Armed Policing officers have Roads Policing as a secondary specialism, providing further resilience.
“Reducing road deaths and serious injury is a key priority for Devon & Cornwall Police. The increased numbers of officers and police staff mean that we can be more proactive in dealing with dangerous drivers, but also that we can respond quicker to reports from members of the public and work more closely with our partners to target issues such as speeding and careless and inconsiderate driving.
“Resources proactively target known locations across Devon and Cornwall where poor driving standards play a contributory factor in fatal or serious injury collisions. Additionally, 270 dashcams were provided to members of the public to enable greater public reporting of road traffic offences.
“I would also encourage anyone who witnesses poor driving episodes to use our Operation Snap online portal to submit video and photographic evidence to allow officers to deal with any offences identified, at dc.police.uk/opsnap.
“Death should never be an inevitable result of travelling on the road network in Devon and Cornwall. We are dedicated to making progress towards reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads, and this investment will help our Force achieve the strategic target of reducing road deaths by 50 per cent by 2030.”