CAMERAS CONTINUE TO HELP SAVE LIVES

The number of crashes resulting in serious injury or death at fixed camera sites has reduced by 56%, while at mobile sites, the reduction is even better with a 69% drop in serious or fatal collisions.

The speed of traffic at camera sites has also dropped dramatically in the 12 months covered by the review '“ in 30mph zones, 60.1% of vehicles exceeded the limit before installation of a camera, and this dropped to just 15.1% in 2004/5.

Financial information about the partnership is also included in the review. During 2004/5, the operating costs of the partnership were 2,667,264, which included the installation and maintenance of camera sites, vehicle-activated signs, staff wages and speed-related road safety education projects such as the Speed Indicator Device (SID) scheme. The receipts from payments of fixed penalties total 2,805,102. The surplus of receipts over costs, 137,865 in 2004/5, goes to the Government Consolidated Fund.

The leaders of the partner organisations within the Sussex Safety Camera Partnership have welcomed the finding of the report, which will be available at libraries and other public information points in the county.

Lieutenant Colonel Tex Pemberton, Cabinet Member for West Sussex County Council, said: "WSCC is proud to be the lead partner within the SSCP, as this report shows their work is having real road safety benefits for motorists in Sussex. I look forward to seeing more casualty reductions in future years."

Councillor Matthew Lock, East Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Transport and the Environment, said: "This report shows encouraging results, and with educational initiatives such as SID (Speed Indicator Device) playing their part in reducing casualties and speeds on our roads, we hope to see this trend repeated on all roads in the county."

Superintendent Paul Morrison of Sussex Police said: "In conjunction with other measures designed to tackle driver behaviour, safety cameras have had and will continue to have a significant role to play in casualty reduction. I welcome the Secretary of State for Transport's proposed future changes to integrate camera partnerships and their activities into the wider road safety delivery process."

Simon Duke, Sussex Area Manager from the Highways Agency said: "We all want to see the number of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads reduced, and this report shows that speed cameras in Sussex are working."

Dave Weston from HM Courts Service - Sussex said: "Sussex residents have a good understanding of the use of safety cameras in the county, and it is pleasing to see that drivers are slowing down at camera sites and casualty numbers are reducing as a result."