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The length of British roads covered by permanent average speed cameras has more than doubled since 2013, according to new figures.
More than 250 miles of roads in Great Britain are now being regularly monitored by average speed cameras.
Research for the RAC Foundation by Road Safety Analysis has identified at least 50 stretches of road which are permanently managed by the cameras with a total length of 256 miles under observation.
Average speed cameras, often used on a temporary basis to manage traffic through roadworks, were not included in the study.
The 50 stretches range in length from just a quarter of a mile over Tower Bridge in London to 99 miles on the A9 between Dunblane and Inverness in Scotland.
Many of these stretches of road are broken down into subsections (79 in total) and will be monitored by several sets of cameras.
The first road to become permanently managed by average speed cameras was on the A6514 Ring Road in Nottingham back in 2000.
By the end of 2015 the total was 50, with 12 systems installed last year alone.
“Average speed cameras are becoming a more common fixture on Britain’s roads,” said Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation.
“Unsurprisingly, the indications are that compliance with the speed limit through stretches of road managed by average speed cameras is high, but the acid test is whether accident and casualty rates have also fallen. That is what the next part of this research project should tell us.
“Rightly or wrongly many motorists perceive the current ‘spot’ speed cameras to be more about raising revenue for the Treasury than saving lives, but average speed cameras have greater potential to bring drivers on side.
“Clearly a high compliance rate means a very low penalty rate and hence both road safety and drivers wallets could benefit from greater use of these systems in appropriate places.”
Locations of permanent average speed cameras
| Site Name | Site Length (miles) | Installation Date |
| A6514 Ring Road, Nottingham | 3.96 | Aug-00 |
| A610 Bobbers Mill, Nottingham | 1.12 | Sep-00 |
| A616 Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire HA | 6.79 | Dec-02 |
| Tower Bridge, City of London | 0.42 | Sep-03 |
| A46 Fosse Road, Nottinghamshire HA | 0.90 | Dec-04 |
| A631 Gringley on the Hill, Nottinghamshire | 1.98 | Jan-05 |
| A631 Scaftworth, Nottinghamshire | 1.48 | Mar-05 |
| A77 Ayr to Stranraer, Transport Scotland | 17.81 | Jul-05 |
| A52 Bingham, Nottinghamshire HA | 2.39 | Jan-06 |
| A52 Radcliffe Road, Nottinghamshire | 2.01 | Jan-06 |
| A52 Saxondale, Nottinghamshire | 0.65 | Jan-06 |
| A14 Huntingdon to Girton, Cambridgeshire HA | 7.13 | Mar-07 |
| A228 Isle of Grain, Kent | 4.54 | Nov-07 |
| B6004 Oxclose Lane, Nottinghamshire | 0.62 | Apr-08 |
| A127 Arterial Road, Essex | 5.31 | Jan-09 |
| A130 Canvey Way, Essex | 2.47 | Apr-09 |
| Rotherhithe Tunnel, London | 1.24 | Jun-09 |
| Blackwall Tunnel, London | 1.54 | Jul-09 |
| A611 Annesley, Nottinghamshire | 0.66 | Nov-09 |
| A631 Beckingham Bypass, Nottinghamshire | 0.64 | Nov-09 |
| A52 Ropsley, Lincolnshire | 5.42 | Dec-09 |
| A66 Bass Lake, Cumbria | 1.74 | Jan-10 |
| A537 Cat and Fiddle, Cheshire | 9.66 | Apr-10 |
| A38 Shenstone to Bassetts Pole, Staffordshire | 3.34 | Jun-10 |
| B1096 Ramsey Forty Foot, Cambridgeshire | 3.90 | Jul-10 |
| A60 London Road, Nottingham | 0.24 | Sep-10 |
| A60 Mansfield Road, Nottingham | 0.66 | Sep-10 |
| A14 Girton to Fen Ditton, Cambridgeshire HA | 4.27 | Mar-11 |
| A614 Old Rufford Road, Nottinghamshire | 11.86 | Jan-12 |
| Marine Parade, Southend, Essex | 0.45 | Mar-12 |
| A465 Head of the Valleys, Wales | 7.91 | May-12 |
| A61 Sheffield to A616 (T) South Yorkshire HA | 4.14 | Nov-12 |
| A6097 Epperstone Bypass, Nottingham | 6.44 | Apr-13 |
| A16 Peaks Parkway | 1.19 | Jul-13 |
| A6097 (A614 East Bridgford), Nottingham | 1.91 | Feb-14 |
| A60 Chuckney Hill, Nottinghamshire | 1.25 | Mar-14 |
| A9 Dunblane to Inverness, Transport Scotland | 98.55 | Oct-14 |
| M4 J40-41a Port Talbot HA | 2.09 | Oct-14 |
| A120 Pelhams Corner, Essex | 1.83 | Feb-15 |
| A13 Aveley to Thurrock | 3.51 | Feb-15 |
| A38 Alfreton Road to Sherwood, Nottinghamshire | 2.58 | Feb-15 |
| A12 Kelvedon Bypass, Essex | 4.47 | Mar-15 |
| Bells Lane, Nottingham | 0.41 | May-15 |
| Winchester Street, Nottingham | 0.37 | May-15 |
| A15 Metheringham, Lincs | 2.54 | Jun-15 |
| Dartford Free-Flow | 3.58 | Jun-15 |
| A515 Duffield Lane, Staffordshire | 3.42 | Jun-15 |
| A519 Woodseaves, Staffordshire | 0.68 | Jun-15 |
| A1139 Fletton Parkway, Cambridgeshire | 0.96 | Jul-15 |
| South Church Drive, Nottingham | 1.52 | Nov-15 |
| TOTAL | 254.56 |
In the grand scheme of the UK road network, I don’t think 250 miles is a massive amount, although granted it is showing a considerable increase which is probably more to do with the price of technology decreasing rather than an increased ambition to reduce speed.
It’s probably also worth pointing out that driving at speed doesn’t always mean driving dangerously. I suspect the majority of accidents are caused by drivers with low levels of skill using their vehicles in a manner which exceeds their own skill and experience. I don’t doubt that speed is a factor, but not the sole reason for accidents.
I am absolutely sure that the number of average speed cameras will increase dramatically over the next decade, especially as technology progresses and reduces the human element to processing such tickets, whether that represents a good use of technology remains to be seen.