Study Details

Study Title: An evaluation of the traffic safety effect of fixed speed cameras

Authors: De Pauw et al.

Publication Date: 2014

Abstract: Speeding remains a major challenge in traffic safety. The government often invests a lot of means to manage this problem, for example through the installation of speed cameras. In order to achieve an effective traffic safety policy it is important to examine the traffic safety effects that these investments bring about. This study evaluates the traffic safety effects of 65 fixed speed cameras, installed between 2002 and 2007, on highways in Flanders-Belgium. The adopted approach is a before- and after study with control for the trend. The evolution in the number of crashes at the locations with speed cameras was compared with the evolution in the total number of crashes in Flanders. The analyses showed a non-significant decrease of 8% in the number of injury crashes. In the case of the more severe crashes with serious and fatal injuries, a decrease of 29% was found, significant at the 5% level. A favorable effect is found for all road user categories (car occupants, cyclists, moped riders, motorcyclists and pedestrians), with a higher decrease in the number of injured road users at the treated locations compared to the general trend. It can be concluded that speed cameras have a favorable effect on traffic safety, mainly on severe crashes.

Study Citation: De Pauw, E., S. Daniels, T. Brijs, E. Hermans, and G. Wets. "An evaluation of the traffic safety effect of fixed speed cameras." Safety Science, Vol. 62, Elsevier Ltd., (2014) pp. 168-174.

Study Report: Download the Study Report Document


CMFs Associated With This Study

Category: Speed management

Countermeasure: Installation of fixed speed cameras

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
0.9281 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
0.9911 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
0.9281 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
1.08-81 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
1.02-21 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
0.9101 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
0.71292 StarsAllK,ANot specifiedAll
0.73271 StarAllK,ANot specifiedAll
0.77231 StarAllK,ANot specifiedAll
1.14-141 StarAllK,ANot specifiedAll
1.27-271 StarAllK,ANot specifiedAll
0.77231 StarAllK,ANot specifiedAll
0.89111 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedUrban
0.9641 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.87131 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
0.9281 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
0.77232 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
1.07-71 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
101 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
0.88121 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll
0.9731 StarAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedAll