Putting brakes on speeders

The decision to install average-speed cameras on a busy road in Edinburgh to clamp down on dangerous driving marks the first time such measures have been introduced in a town or city in Scotland.

Average-speed cameras are to be installed in a city street in Scotland for the first time

Should it make any difference that the average-speed cameras are in an urban area rather than on a dual carriageway or a motorway?

No. It doesn’t matter if an area is built-up or not; the problem amounts to the same thing – lack of road safety and potential for accidents. Fatalities are not restricted to the open roads.

Existing average-speed cameras in Scotland have proved to be highly effective in slowing down traffic. A similar system has been operating on a large stretch of the A9 since October 2014, and is credited with a 45 per cent reduction in casualties on the route.

If they prove successful in urban areas as well – and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t – and they are affordable, then they should be rolled out in other parts of the country where the problem of illegal speeding has not been resolved by existing methods.

It’s a small price to pay to save lives.