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February 12, 2012
Speed cameras catch record haul
Published: 29 Jul 10 09:21 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/28064/20100729/
A record number of people were caught by speed cameras on Sweden’s roads last year, according to figures released on Thursday.
- Police waive speeding tickets in 120 zones (4 Jan 12)
- Agencies list Sweden's safest places (21 Dec 11)
- Half of Swedes 'unsure' if they have driven drunk (29 Nov 11)
The largest number of fines were issued to drivers caught on the Riksväg 72 road near Uppsala and on the E4 between Lillåbron and Bygdeå, north of Umeå.
Since speed cameras were introduced in Sweden four years ago, the number of drivers caught has increased more than tenfold. There are now more than 1,000 speed cameras on Swedish roads. Where they exist, the average speed has fallen by ten kilometres per hour, according to the Swedish Transport Administration.
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@Gletta: As for the safety: When one is passing a slowly moving vehicle and finds out about a camera ahead, he is forced to either pass the vehicle with only a slightly increased speed - quite dangerous action, or pass it quickly and safely and pay the fine - absurd situation
safety or money.... i think they do it for money more than safety as where they put them and how they love to mess with the speed limits around all the speed cameras to catch you off guard i know of one where they use this tactic and i bet you they make heap of money from that one!
I actually think it's more about safety than money. They are very clearly visible, there's always a sign telling you that there's about to be one and they are always at places where it would be dangerous to speed (e.g. crossroads, minor roads joining major roads, roadside petrol stations etc etc). From that point of view it doesn't matter if people speed up again afterwards, they were slow where they were meant to be slow.
Compare that to e.g. Germany where they are sneakily hidden in bushes on straight roads with no crossroads or any other reason to naturally speed down. Or on the Autobahn, *immediately* after going from no speed limit to a temporary 100km/h limit on 4 straight lanes with no traffic because of roadworks 5km down the road. Same pretty much all over Europe, with the possible exception of the UK which also goes for highly visible cameras.
Bottom line: if you think the cameras in Sweden are about money, you haven't seen cameras that are about money yet.
As for catching you off guard by changing speed limits: It's a big round sign. You're supposed to pay attention to them. They repeat after every crossing and, usually, you even get a reminder with the speed camera sign. I don't think many people get caught off guard.
Australian speed camera revenue estimates in 2006 (only statistics i could find) were approximately 12,000,000kr equivalent per day. Since then, more cameras, bigger fines, more people, and alot more revenue. For a country of only 21m people, they generate more speeding fine revenue every 3 days than Sweden has in a year.
Just some information for thought! From my perspective, i think Sweden has some exceptionally relaxed speeding laws and love the opportunity put my foot down on 99% of the roads which do not have cameras, and where it is safe to do so.
I agree with @teslar that Swedish speed limits are very well thought out compared to most countries. Slow drivers in your way are annoying, but there are usually good reasons why you shouldn't overtake them if speed limits on Swedish roads do not permit you to.
There are plenty of statistics showing that accident rates are significantly reduced or increased through a difference of a mere 10 kph in speed.
As for increasing speeds by 10 kph, if you can sustain it without interruption for a full hour, say driving at 110 kph instead of 100 kph, the savings are a mere 5+ minutes -- it means arriving somewhere at 16:10 instead of 16:15 and creating a 45% higher chance of harming yourself or someone else along the way. Drivers ought to think more about whether it is worth endangering lives for a measly 5 min gain per hour.