Following the success of three similar enforcement programs in the country, Transport Scotland (TS) has announced that it is going to install a £250,000 (US$304,000) average speed camera system on a dangerous 15.9 miles (25.6km) long stretch of the A82 and A85 roads between Tyndrum and Lix Toll.
The new average speed network will replace the existing mobile camera enforcement currently taking place on this section of the route. Suitable for deployment on long stretches of road, average speed cameras aim to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured by encouraging improved driver behavior and speed limit compliance. Despite mobile speed camera deployments at three sites on the A82 and A85 between Tyndrum and Lix Toll there have been 21 reported collisions in the most recently assessed three-year period. This has resulted in nine slight injury collisions, 11 serious injury collisions and one fatal collision. In addition, on some stretches of this route one-in-three vehicles are speeding.
The change in speed camera technology between Tyndrum and Lix Toll was based on the outputs of Transport Scotland’s 2018 annual safety camera site prioritization exercise. Once operational, the agency anticipates a 60% reduction in the number of killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, which is based on an assessment of collisions on the rural single carriageways section (south of Bankfield to Ardwell Bay) of the A77 that has similar characteristics to the Tyndrum-Lix Toll section of route. The system will be supplied by the UK division (formerly Vysionics) of the German Jenoptik group and will use the company’s SPECS3 VECTOR cameras. TS anticipates that the average speed camera system between Tyndrum and Lix Toll will be constructed and activated later this summer.
Connecting the central belt and the west of Scotland, the A82/A85 is a vital artery for local communities, carrying an average of over 6,000 commuter and freight vehicles every day. There are currently three permanent average speed camera systems in place across the trunk road network in Scotland. Sustained improvements in driver behavior have been delivered since their deployment, with reductions in KSI figures of:
- A77 between Symington and Girvan- 56%;
- A9 between Dunblane and Inverness -31%;
- A90 between Dundee and Stonehaven – 40%.
“Installing average speed cameras on the A82 and A85 roads between Tyndrum and Lix Toll will help to make the road safer for everyone travelling along the route,” said Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson. “This investment will deliver a range of benefits for road users. This includes reducing road casualties, improving journey time reliability, and reducing the frequency of incidents and disruptive closures.”
East Safety Camera Unit manager, Andy Jones, noted, “We currently deploy mobile safety camera vans along this route and motorists are complying with the speed limit when the vans are present. However, there is a significant number of vehicles travelling above the limit outside enforcement periods, as well as collisions caused by inappropriate speed. We welcome the introduction of an average speed camera system as a more permanent means of encouraging improved driver behavior for users of this stretch of road.”
