French Speed Cameras Credited With
50 Percent Drop In Roadway Fatalities

Photo Radar Units Lead To 85 Percent Drop In Crashes

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 20, 2004) — A new report by the Government of France’s Transport Ministry has credited the country’s new network of over 280 mobile and fixed photo radar units with a staggering 50 percent reduction in fatalities and an 85 percent drop in crashes at targeted areas of dangerous roadways.

The French government installed the devices, which combine digital camera and radar technology to record data and images of speeding vehicles, all across the country early in 2004. Crashes at the camera locations have dropped from 446 in 2003 before the cameras were installed to 60 this year.

“The use of photo radar in speeding enforcement is not a new concept, but the French government is to be applauded for quickly establishing such a comprehensive traffic safety program,” said Leslie Blakey, Executive Director of the National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running. “France is seeing the wide-scale positive results of photo enforcement that have only been seen at the city-wide level in the few North American cities with similar programs.”

Colonel Jim Champagne, Chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association and Executive Director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, said, "This report is remarkable in that such a dramatic drop in speed-related crashes and fatalities has been achieved by using photo enforcement technology. Traffic engineers on some of our most dangerous roadways should take a very close look at what the French have achieved in a very short period of time."

In 1987, Paradise Valley, Arizona, became the first town in the U.S. to install photo radar. Other U.S. sites that have used speed photo enforcement include Mesa, Scottsdale and Tempe, Arizona; Portland and Beaverton, Oregon; Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado; Campbell, San Jose, and National City, California; Sandy, Utah; Washington, D.C.; and Clark County, Washington. Illinois approved legislation last year to allow speed limit enforcement cameras at select highway construction work zones.

In 2003, 13,380 lives were lost in U.S. speeding-related crashes and speeding was a contributing factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes. The estimated economic costs associated with speeding-related crashes is $40.4 billion per year.