New Studies: Photo Enforcement Puts the Brakes on Speeders in Residential Areas and Highways

WASHINGTON, D.C.(January 31, 2008) — Two studies released today show that speed cameras in Maryland and Arizona communities led to dramatic decreases in the number of speeding vehicles.

The reports, issued today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), evaluated the use of speed cameras in residential areas and school zones in Montgomery County, Maryland, and on Loop 101, an urban freeway in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“Across the country, cities are using technology to help over-burdened police departments enforce laws against speeding and red light running,” said Campaign Executive Director Leslie Blakey. “Excessive speeding is a significant problem everywhere and consistent enforcement is key to modifying driver behavior as these reports prove.”

The study of Montgomery County’s program to enforce speed limits of 35 mph or less in residential areas and school zones found that vehicles going more than 10 mph faster than posted speed limits dropped 70 percent where cameras were in use and 39 percent on roads with signs warning of enforcement but where cameras weren’t yet in place. A survey taken six months after the photo enforcement program began found that 74 percent of Montgomery County respondents considered speeding a problem on residential streets, 60 percent were aware of camera enforcement, and 62 percent favored it. The program was Maryland’s first automated speed enforcement program

The Arizona study found that before the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, began a 9-month pilot speed camera enforcement program in 2006, 15 percent of drivers were traveling faster than 75 mph on sections of Loop 101, a busy urban freeway with a 65 mph posted limit. Once the cameras were in place, the number of violators plunged to 1-2 percent. Plus, speed violations fell on the same freeway 25 miles outside of the enforcement area. The Loop 101 project marked the first use of fixed speed cameras on a major U.S. highway.

As noted in the IIHS research report, “Deployment of six cameras along an 8-mile corridor was associated with large declines in mean speeds and an 88 percent decrease in the odds of vehicles traveling 11 mph or more above the 65 mph limit. Traffic speeds increased soon after the pilot program was suspended.” (Speed-camera enforcement was reinstated in February 2007).

“Our studies found dramatic reductions in speeding,” said Anne McCartt, IIHS senior vice president for research. “Camera enforcement had a positive effect on driver behavior and our surveys indicate that speed cameras garnered the support of local drivers.”

According to the IIHS Status Report released today, “By comparing Loop 101 speeds with
speeds on nearby freeways that didn’t have cameras, researchers concluded that the
Scottsdale program was associated with as much as a 95 percent decrease in the odds that drivers would surpass 75 mph. Previous studies in Europe and Australia, where speed cameras are widely used, have reported 50-60 percent reductions in the proportions of vehicles exceeding speed limits by more than 9 mph.”

The Institute, based in Arlington, Virginia, is a nonprofit highway safety research group funded by auto insurers with the goal of reducing deaths, injuries, and property damage in motor vehicle crashes. Read a copy of “Evaluation of automated speed enforcement in Montgomery County, Maryland” by R. Retting et al., or “Evaluation of automated speed enforcement on Loop 101 freeway in Scottsdale, Arizona” by R. Retting et al. Or visit the IIHS website at www.iihs.org.

The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running is a national advocacy group guided by an independent advisory board that includes leaders from the fields of traffic safety, law enforcement, transportation engineering, health care and emergency medicine, as well as crash victims. A new guidebook, Focus on Safety: a practical guide to automated traffic enforcement, can be downloaded from the Campaign website at www.stopredlightrunning.com.