BGU: Speed cameras should cover all non-urban roads
In an effort to increase road safety and reduce speeding, BGU team proposes the installment of speed cameras throughout.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFBen Gurion University(photo credit: WWW.PIKIWIKI.ORG.IL)
A team of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers recommends that speed cameras be deployed over the entire non-urban road network in Israel.This recommendation is based upon the proven ability of speed cameras to reduce driving speeds and thereby increase road safety, the researchers said in a report submitted to the National Road Safety Authority (RSA).Prof. Hillel Bar-Gera, Prof. Edna Schechtman, Dr. Amir Grinstein, and Dr. Oren Musicant were commissioned by the RSA to evaluate the system after digital enforcement cameras, for both speed and red-light running, were introduced in Israel during the last four years.At 14 road camera sites, the team found the average speed declined by 7.86 km/h (8.7%).International research shows that a 1% reduction in average speed can reduce injury accidents by ~2% and fatal accidents by 3-5%.The safety implications are a 10% reduction in all injury accidents and 15% reduction in fatal accidents, on both urban and non-urban roads.For most drivers surveyed (89% in 2013), their stated driving speed was not higher than their perceived speed limit, implying that most drivers are willing to adhere to the speed limit.This leads to an additional conclusion, that enhancing drivers’ awareness of the speed limit will reduce speed violations.
