Last year the anti-camera group Safe Speed brought the Government up short on its claims over statistics at speed camera sites. The group said that because cameras are often placed at sites where there had been a recent flurry of crashes, it was possible for statistics to give a false impression of effectiveness as there would be a natural drop from the peak regardless
of the new speed camera.

The most recent report takes 'regression to the mean' into account and shows deaths and serious injuries are reduced by 24 per cent at fixed camera sites as opposed to the previously claimed 50 per cent. Whilst these are still impressive figures, non-penalising road safety measures such as speed indicator devices have been shown to reduce crashes by an even greater percentage.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling also announced new requirements to improve the signposting of cameras, and measures to change the current public perception that the primary aim of cameras is to accrue funds. The Government will scrap the current system of funding through fines and replace it with a central fund for road safety of £110m (up from the present £93m). It's hoped this will make cameras a last resort in road safety rather than the default that they've become.

By 2011 all local authorities will also have to review the speed limits on their A- and B-roads. The current guidelines suggest limits based on how fast most motorists drive on a stretch of road, but this advice is expected to be revised in the next couple of months.