Killing speed and saving lives The Government's strategy for tackling the problem of excess speed on our roads que DEPARTM ENS OF TRANSPORT THE SCOTTISH OFFICE WELLCOME INSTITUTE LIBRAR rvit Killing speed and saving lives The Government's strategy for tackling the problem of excess speed on our roads a Me J E: os = ~ ere mn TIL Zé 5008877 972 4 Section 1 The extent of the problem 1.1 In 1991 in Britain there were 235,798 injury road accidents, of which 4,158 were fatal. There were 4,568 deaths, 51,605 serious injuries and 255,096 slight injuries. 1.2 Speeding by drivers and riders contributed towards a substantial proportion of these deaths and injuries. Investigations into thousands of road accidents by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) indicate that between 22 and 32 per cent of the accidents studied had excessive speed as a contributory factor. This is supported by research in the United States which suggests that about one third of all Casualty accidents fatally injured vehicle occupants are involved by road type in a speed-related accident. In terms of the 1991 injury road accident figures for Britain, this would mean that eae Non built-up roads speeding had been involved in up to 77,000 injury road accidents and in the deaths of hia Built-up roads approximately 900 vehicle occupants and motorcycle users. 4 Motorways 1.3 This is not to say that the roads with the highest vehicle speeds are the most dangerous. Motorways are by far the safest roads in the country: they carry nearly 15 per cent of the traffic but account for just over 3 per cent of the casualty accidents. Furthermore, the fatality rate on motorways is less than a third of that on built up roads and less than a quarter of that on non-built up roads. The relationship between speed, In 1991, 55 per cent of the total deaths and accidents and casualties serious injuries occurred on roads with a 30 mph limit compared with 29 per cent in a 60 mph limit and only 7 per cent in a 70 mph limit. Taking fatalities alone, 38 per cent occurred Deaths and serious on roads with a 60 mph limit, 39 per cent in a injuries by road 30 mph limit and 12 per cent in a 70 mph speed limit limit. Roads with a 60 mph limit - mostly single carriageway roads in non built-up areas - are particularly dangerous for vehicle occupants. ee 70 mph In 1991, some 53 per cent of all vehicle occupant deaths occurred on these roads. This a 60 mph compared with 22 per cent in a 30 mph limit and 16 per cent in a 70 mph. I) 30 mph The problem is driving too fast for the kind of road and for the prevailing road conditions. 1.4. There is considerable evidence that the Deaths by road number and severity of road accidents increase rapidly with speed. speed limit The introduction of a national speed limit of 50 mph during the 1973-74 fuel crisis was followed by a 10 per cent reduction in accidents, while the volume of traffic fell by only 3 per cent. Measurements of vehicle ee 70mph speeds on motorways while the 50 mph limit was in force suggest that such speeds fell by an average of about 11 mph. ee 60mph In 1979, in Denmark, a 10 kph reduction in the speed limits on motorways and other rural a 30mph roads - to 100 kph and 80 kph respectively - led to a reduction in average speeds on each type of road of about 2 kph. At the same time, there was a reduction in the total number of accidents on motorways and a 17.5 per cent reduction in injury accidents on Vehicle occupant rural roads. deaths by road An analysis by the TRL of international speed limit experience indicates that a reduction in average speed everywhere of the order of 1 kph could save 5 per cent of all injury accidents and 7 per cent of fatal accidents. a 70 mph In the United States, the decision by 40 States between 1987 and 1988 to raise the speed 60. mph limit on inter-state highways from 55 mph to 65 mph led to an increase in average car I) 30 mph speeds of about 3 mph. Over the same period, there was an increase in fatalities on these roads of between 20 and 25 per cent - an estimated 500 deaths a year. This is strong evidence that a relatively small increase in average speed - here about 5 per cent - can lead to a very large increase in road deaths. oon Shortest stopping distances 12m (40ft) 23m (75ft) 36m (120ft) oon Ge) Sa 53m (175ft) coven [i] 73m (240ft) conor [S| Ae 96m (315ft) Overall stopping distance 1.5 1.6 Physical considerations show that, all other It is no surprise, therefore, that there is a things being equal, accidents are more likely disproportionate relationship between speed and, if they occur, become more severe as and the severity of pedestrian injuries. vehicle speeds increase. Research shows that when pedestrians are Higher speeds result in longer distances struck by a moving car: travelled as the driver reacts to an incident. ¢ at 20 mph only 5 per cent are killed, most The ‘thinking distance’, the length of road injuries are slight, and 30 per cent suffer no covered while the driver is assessing the injury at all; situation and deciding to brake, increases linearly with speed. ¢ at 30 mph 45 per cent are killed and many Transport Research are seriously injured; Laboratory impact Moreover, the distance needed to bring a ¢ at 40 mph 85 per cent are killed. experiment vehicle to a halt increases even more rapidly with its speed. This is because the 'braking distance’ - the distance travelled from when the driver first applies the brakes to the point at which the vehicle is at complete rest - increases with the square of the speed. The faster a vehicle is driven, the harder it is to estimate the speed of other road users accurately - thereby making wrong judge- ments more likely. So, however fast a driver's reactions, as the speed of the vehicle increases the chances of being able to react successfully to an unfore- seen incident or to correct a misjudgement decrease sharply. Speed not only greatly increases the stopping distance of a vehicle; the energy imparted by a moving vehicle increases with the square of its speed; so a car travelling at 40 mph will dissipate four times more energy in an impact than one travelling at 20 mph. Probability of 100 17 serious injury to The relationship between speed and the severity of occupant injuries, although car occupant by 80 complicated by the kinds of vehicles impact speed* involved and the type of accident, is also 60 clear. In a given type of accident, the risk of the 40 vehicle occupants being seriously injured increases disproportionately with the speed P%r obability of the impact. 20 TRL research indicates that, where a car hits a solid immovable object or an oncoming similar car travelling at the same speed in a 20 30 40 head-on collision: Car speed (mph) ¢ at 30 mph the risk of serious injury to a * Assuming that the car hits a solid immovable object or belted occupant in a front seat is three times an oncoming similar car at the same speed; and the vehicle occupant is restrained and in the front seat. that at 20 mph; ¢ at 40 mph the risk is five times that at 20 mph. Vehicle pollution by speed* HC NO co 1.8 oe 15 a xx The emission of pollutants by cars also increases disproportionately with speed. A car travelling at 150 kph (93 mph), compared with one travelling at 80 kph (50 mph), emits: (g/km) ¢ over four times more carbon monoxide (CO); ¢ more than double the nitrous oxide (NOx); ) ¢ more than one and a half times the hydrocarbons (HCs) ePmoliltutteadn ts 80 150 Vehicle Speed (KM) * Non-catalyst cars Seeeuimie Buill-up areas 3 Single carriageway Dual carriageways Type of Vehicle | MPH MPH Cars (including car derived 30 60 | 0 70 vans and motorcycles) Cars towing caravans or trailers 30 50 60 60 (including car derived vans and motorcycles) Buses and Coaches (not exceeding 12 metres in overall length) Goods Vehicles 30 50 60 70 (not exceeding 7.5 tonnes maximum laden weight) Heavy Goods Vehicles 30 40 50 60 (exceeding 7.5 tonnes maximum laden weight) These are the national speed limits and apply to all roads and unless signs show otherwise. * The 30 mph limit applies to all traffic on all roads with street lighting and unless signs show otherwise. Speed Limits 1.9 Between 1865 and 1896 locomotives on the highway had to be preceded by a pedestrian carrying a red flag and were subject to a speed limit of 2 mph in cities, towns and villages and 4 mph elsewhere. The maximum speed limit was then increased to 14 mph and again, in 1903, to 20 mph. In 1930 speed limits for cars and motorcycles were abolished. In 1934 a general 30 mph limit was imposed on roads in built up areas (which amounted to roads with street lighting). Other roads had no speed limits at all. It was not until 1965 that a national upper limit of 70 mph was introduced for all roads including motorways. Since 1977 the speed limit for cars and motorcycles on dual carriageways has been 70 mph, with a 60 mph limit on single carriageways. The lowest speed limit to which a type of vehicle is currently subject is 5 mph. This limit must not be exceeded by track laying vehicles not fitted with resilient material between their rollers and the road surface. Speeding Dual Carriageways Until recently vehicle speed data were ¢ Over three quarters of the largest heavy collected in irregular surveys using video goods vehicles break their 50 mph limit. camera. Now more sophisticated analyses are ¢ 38 per cent of cars and 43 per cent of carried out using continuous information motorcycles exceed the 70 mph limit. One provided from data collection sites - some quarter of motorcycles go faster than 80 mph. automatic - on motorways and on dual and single carriageways. Single Carriageway A Roads The 1991 survey into the free-flow speeds of over nine million vehicles on motorways and ¢ 70 per cent of heavy goods vehicles exceed other trunk roads gave the following results: their 40 mph limit. ¢ One third of motorcycles exceed the Motorways 60 mph limit with almost a quarter going over 70 mph. Motorway speeding is widespread. ¢ 10 per cent of cars break the 60 mph limit. ¢ 60 per cent of cars exceed the 70 mph speed Comparing surveys carried out in 1983 and limit, one in four exceeds 80 mph and 3 per 1991, the proportion of cars breaking the cent exceed 90 mph. speed limit has increased sharply on all three ¢ Almost 60 per cent of motorcycles break the types of road. 70 mph limit, with one in three exceeding 80 mph and one in seven exceeding 90 mph ¢ 19 per cent of coaches and buses exceed 70 mph (although only 1 per cent travel at more than 75 mph, indicating the effective- ness of speed limiters in curbing high speeds). ¢ Around 40 per cent of heavy goods vehicles break their 60 mph limit. Section 2 A strategy to cut speed 2.1 evidence. A certificate that the camera was an The problem of speeding is being tackled in a approved device and that any conditions variety of ways by: placed on its use had been satisfied will enable photographs from the camera to be deterring drivers from speeding by admissible as sole evidence of a speeding increasing the likelihood that they will offence. be detected and successfully prosecuted Speed cameras will have most effect in and by increasing the penalties available reducing road casualties if they are used as a to the Courts. deterrent rather than simply to catch seeking to change drivers’ attitudes offenders. Police and highway authorities towards speeding. (in Scotland, Roads Authorities) will decide introducing road engineering measures on how and where they are to be deployed but which have the effect of slowing traffic are likely to follow Government advice that down. they be used mostly at locations where there Speed camera is a high risk of speed-related accidents. in action requiring speed limiters to be fitted more widely. ensuring that speed limits are correctly set and take more account of the interests of vulnerable road users and local conditions. Detection and Deterrence 2.2 The law allows the police to use approved radar devices to determine whether drivers are speeding. However, taking action against offenders has in the past been a cumbersome process because the legal procedures have been based on the premise that the driver will be stopped by the police at the time of the alleged offence. This either involves substantial demands on police resources, with one team of officers detecting offenders and another further along the road stopping them, or it involves the police in the danger of giving chase at high speed. 2.3 The new Road Traffic Act 1991 opens the way for speed detection equipment to be used more effectively. From 1 July 1992 it has been possible to convict motorists of speeding offences solely on the basis of photographic evidence from automatic roadside speed cameras type approved by the Home Office. The cameras will be triggered by every vehicle travelling faster than a given speed. The actual speed of the vehicle, together with the time and date, will be recorded on the photograph itself. It will be possible to send a conditional offer of a fixed penalty to alleged offenders by post. Most offenders are likely to choose to pay the fine without further argument, particularly when confronted with the photographic evidence. If cases go to Court, there will be no need for the police or other experts to give oral testimony in support of the photographic 2.4 2.7 The new automatic speed cameras will not This widespread fascination with speed may replace traditional police radar equipment. help to explain why motorists in general Both will be used in the fight to detect and regard the breaking of speed limits - at least deter speeding drivers. in a minor way - as not a very serious matter. We aim to change this attitude over the long 2.5 term in the same way that the attitude of the The Road Traffic Act 1991 also gives Courts public towards drinking and driving has for the first time the option of imposing up to changed. We intend to create a climate of 6 penalty points on a driver for a speeding opinion in which breaking speed limits is as offence, in place of the present maximum of socially unacceptable as driving with excess 3 points. This opens up the possibility of a alcohol. driver accumulating enough penalty points for disqualification from just two speeding 2.8 offences. Moreover, on 1 October 1992, We have begun by seeking to persuade under the Criminal Justice Act 1991, the advertisers not to give undue prominence to maximum fine for a speeding offence (a Level speed and performance in car and motorcycle 3 fine) will increase from the present £400 to advertisements. The Committee of £1,000. The maximum fine for speeding on a Advertising Practice, following discussions motorway (a Level 4 fine) will go up from with the Government, has issued revised £1,000 to £2,500. guidelines to advertisers and has taken action against several recent advertisements which Changing Attitudes emphasise speed and performance at the expense of other features. 2.6 Attitudes do seem to be changing with more The speed and performance capabilities of manufacturers now basing their advertising cars and motorcycles are deeply interesting to campaigns on the range of safety features many drivers and riders. Motoring magazines offered by their cars. and programmes often dwell upon the illegal top speeds of which modern cars are capable 2.9 and how they perform at those speeds. We will carry out a long-term publicity Part of the reason for this may lie in the way campaign to make drivers and riders aware of that cars are promoted by manufacturers. Car the dangers of excessive speed and the and motorcycle advertisements at the very substantial safety benefits of even small least refer to the speed and acceleration which reductions in speed. their models can achieve and often present This began with the national Child Pedestrian fast driving as an enjoyable and acceptable Safety Campaign, launched in October 1991 activity - without pointing out consequences (based on the statistics quoted in paragraph for drivers or other road users. 1.6). Television advertisements and posters High speed car chases are a recurring element show drivers how cutting their speed in in many TV programmes - especially those residential areas can radically improve the aimed at the young. TV commercial ‘Kill your speed: not a child’. 10