Last week, the West Midlands Casualty Reduction Scheme became the latest to have its funding withdrawn which will lead to more than 200 cameras being switched off. Similar reductions are underway in Staffordshire, Hampshire and elsewhere.
Research by CFC shows that speeding is far and away the most common offence incurred by company car and van drivers, accounting for around 60% of the points issued to the thousands of drivers it monitors through its Licence Link software.
Neville Briggs, managing director at CFC, said: “Many company car and van drivers treat safety cameras in exactly the same way as other motorists – they slow down for the camera and speed back up again afterwards.
“The danger is that, with the knowledge that fewer and fewer of these cameras are operational, they may become less likely to slow down and more likely to take a chance, especially if they are running late or otherwise under pressure.
“It is important to remember that many of these cameras are placed in locations where there are known road safety issues and by staying above the speed limit, your drivers could be putting themselves at risk.”
At least one local authority – Oxfordshire – has turned its safety cameras back on after there was a reported increase in accidents when they were switched off.
Briggs continued: “As one of the issues arising from Government spending cuts that has received widespread coverage, this is likely to be a story that runs and runs but fleet managers may want to alert their drivers that they should continue to exercise caution around safety camera sites, whatever they hear on the news.”
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