Dave Thompson MSP

“I was disappointed to learn that a vocal group, who are behind the petition “A9 Average Speed Cameras Are Not the Answer”, are suggesting that the Scottish Government’s efforts at reducing accidents on the Perth to Inverness stretch are somehow flawed.

I am supportive of The Scottish Government’s commitment to making the route between Perth and Inverness as safe as possible.  Since 2007, the Scottish Government has invested heavily in safety and maintenance improvements on the A9 to the tune of over £137 million.

Of course dualling is the solution to improving safety on the route and I am immensely proud that we are the first Government committed to this, with the dualling programme due to commence next year.

The A9 is a an ambitious project, which will take ten years and in the interim, I believe it is crucial to improve safety on the road and the average speed camera system is one of a comprehensive package of measures designed to improve safety until the dualling programme is complete.

The decision to install the average speed camera system was reached following an evidence based review, which included analysis of accidents, vehicle speeds, traffic flows and existing speed enforcement statistics.  This review, overseen by The A9 Safety Group, concluded that average speed cameras would improve safety on the A9 and as such I fully support their implementation.

Excessive speed is a significant issue on the A9 which needs to be addressed.  Between 1 July and 30 September 2013, 3869 speeding offences were identified on the A9 and a speed analysis survey found that 1 in 3 cars on single carriageway sections of the route between Perth and Inverness were exceeding the posted speed limit.

This excessive speed not only increases the risk of collisions happening, but also increases the severity of accidents when they do occur and something has to be done to address this issue, which is why I agree wholeheartedly with the introduction of the average speed camera system.

I am confident the cameras will result in immediate improvements to safety by bringing positive changes to driver behaviour, which will reduce accidents and associated serious injuries and fatalities, as the evidence consistently shows that safety improves when average speed cameras are installed.

In conjunction with this, plans have also been announced for a pilot scheme which will increase the speed limit for HGV’s from 40 mph to 50 mph on single carriageway sections of the A9.  This is to be introduced at the same time as the average speed camera system and is designed to reduce the frustration which can arise when slow moving vehicles are holding up traffic, something I have often witnessed on the A9.  I have no doubt that the average speed cameras will improve safety on the route and that the HGV pilot will further improve driver behaviour by reducing frustration and look forward to its implementation.