Calls for more yellow speed cameras in Scotland

Date: 8/8/2011

Scotland's 'yellow vultures' have proved so successful that road safety charities are calling for more to be rolled out across the country.

The 'vultures' in question are the average speed checking cameras, which use automatic number plate recognition technology to calculate the typical velocity of vehicles between two separate points.

In an exclusive article for the Herald Scotland, Travel Correspondent Damien Henderson says figures disclosed to sister publication the Sunday Herald reveal only 213 drivers have been fined or prosecuted for speeding offences on one route in the last 21 months.

He adds that the stretch of the M80 between Glasgow and Stirling would have seen 30 million journeys made along it during this period, which points to the success of the cameras in controlling speed and improving road safety.

Kevin Clinton, Head of Road Safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said there appeared to be "a case" for the technology to be deployed elsewhere in Scotland.

Earlier, it was claimed that the use of 'yellow vultures' on a 32-mile stretch of the A77 resulted in 60 per cent fewer fatal accidents during the first four years of their use, from 2005.

In June, provisional figures released by the Scottish government revealed that there were 13,324 road casualties reported during 2010, the lowest figure to be recorded.

Posted by Sarah Bailey