The length of British roads covered by permanent average speed cameras has doubled since 2013, research has revealed.
Research conducted by the RAC Foundation discovered that permanent cameras that measure average speed are now situated at 80 UK sites.
It means that cameras of this type now cover 263 miles of road in Britain, a distance greater than the entirety of the M6 motorway. That figure is a major increase compared to 2013, when average speed cameras covered 130 miles of the British road network.
This research excludes sites where average speed cameras are utilised temporarily, for reasons such as monitoring speed limits through motorway roadworks.
The longest stretch in England with average speed cameras today is the A614 Old Rufford Road near Ollerton, in Nottinghamshire - where the devices cover a 12-mile stretch.
Almost all average speed camera sites in Britain are located specifically in England, although there are two in Scotland, two in Wales and one in Northern Ireland.
According to Richard Owen from Road Safety Analytics, the cost of deploying average speed cameras has fallen in recent years, making them more appealing to local authorities. The cost of installing average speed cameras is now around £100,000 per mile, compared to £1.5 million per mile when they were first introduced in the early 2000s.
Back in March, the House of Commons’ Transport Committee suggested increasing the use of average speed cameras on UK roads. The Committee said such cameras “are generally better received by motorists than traditional fixed speed cameras”.
The director of the RAC Foundation, Steve Gooding, commented that many motorists see fixed speed cameras “as more about raising revenue for the Treasury than saving lives”. He added, however, that motorists believe average speeds had “greater potential to bring drivers on side”.
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