Surrey County Council has announced it’ll be investing in more speed cameras for locations where excess speeds, congestion or poor air quality are a community concern.

In a statement the council says road casualty hotspots remain the council’s top priority when deciding camera locations and they have proven to be very effective in helping to reduce the number of casualties by encouraging greater compliance with the speed limit and deterring red light jumping. At the county’s five current permanent locations, these have seen a reduction in casualties of 63%.

It says spot speed cameras at 16 sites have seen a 36% reduction in casualties, while red light cameras at eight sites have led to a 55% reduction and casualties at five combined speed and red-light cameras are down 38%.

Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure said, “By expanding the use of average speed cameras to other areas as well as continuing to prioritise locations where we know the risk of collisions is higher, we hope to further reduce collisions in Surrey and keep people safe on our roads.  

“We’re listening to our residents who know their areas well and are concerned about safety due to speeding, noise or congestion. It is hoped that permanent camera locations will also help free up police resources.”

The council says funding for new cameras will continue to be prioritised at the worst collision hotspots, and local budgets for highway improvements could be allocated for new cameras where local residents are concerned about speeding, and where traffic calming is not viable. The Surrey Road Safety Partnership Board comprising the Police and Crime Commissioner and representatives from Surrey County Council and Surrey Police will oversee the investment in new safety camera sites. Cameras will continue to be positioned to be visible and well signed.

(Picture – Yay Images)