Speed cameras catch record haul

Average speed down by 10kph - so what. Can the article provide data on the reduction in road deaths and injuries in those areas to see if these cameras are about improving road safety or generating income?

This is a surprising result considering that almost every GPS navigation knows positions of these.

@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

many drivers wen they see the camera infront they put the speed down but wen they pass it then they increase the speed again so the cameras i dont see anything much they do. someone can see it from a distance and he or she decrease the speed and increases after. so can someone tel me where the reason is or where the help is?

64,836 people should invest in a GPS then carl black if thats the case....

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 like these, they are completely oblivious to my bike.

@misssh

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.

You want to see revenue generating speed cameras, try visiting Australia. There are stretches of the Hume Highway (between Sydney & Melbourne) which have 'average speed' cameras....that is they take snap shots of your number plate every 30km over a 200km stretch of road, then calculate your average speed over that distance. If your average speed between 2 or more camera points is as little as 3km over the speed limit....then BANG....expect a 900kr equivalent fine in the post. Of course, these will also get you if you are over the limit when passing a camera, even if your average speed is below the limit. Then there are the normal cameras which are strategically placed in a way that makes it near impossible to slow down before it has already taken your speed. For mobile cameras in police cars, it is like a sport for cops to pick the best hidden location....like at the bottom of a hill behind a bush where the speed limit suddenly drops from 100 to 60.

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.

@Gletta, @misssh & @CarlBlack:

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.

The Ghostrider doesn't care about your speed cameras.

Why not cameras to catch people who constantly drive in the middle lane? That's something I could support.

I was a victim once, now I have a trick.....just sprayed my plate numbers with a thick brown powder.

you can also dust the numbers with EVOO and flour, It washes off easier.

Only 25% of drivers are ever convicted. For Local readers I'd be surprised if the number is more than 5% since we hold foreign licenses. If they make the roads safer I'm all for them.