An independent review of the first three years of the safety camera programme found that deaths and serious injuries had fallen by 40% at camera sites.
Overall in Devon and Cornwall the number of collisions leading to death or serious injury fell 15% last year.
Despite having one of the best safety records in the world, about 3,500 people are still killed and another 35,000 seriously injured on Britain�s roads each year.
If this carnage were taking place in any other area of our life it would be a major scandal. A fatal rail accident or terrorist attack will grab the headlines. But the daily death toll on our roads is usually only reported in the local media.
And it is not just the cost in human grief and suffering. A fatal road crash costs the tax payer about �1.25 million, a serious collision injury about �140,000.
Excessive speed is a factor in over a quarter of fatal crashes. Pedestrians hit at 20 mph have a 2.5% chance of being killed. Being hit at 40 mph, the risk jumps to 90%.
And yet speeding is still considered by too many people as a minor misdemeanour. Attempts by the Government and police to tackle it are condemned as part of a �war on motorists.�
I have never understood those who support the law being enforced everywhere except on the roads, particularly when the results of such law breaking are often so tragic.
The reduction in accidents achieved by speed cameras means about 105 fewer people died last year. That is 105 fewer families bereaved and a lot of money saved to the tax payer.
Surely that is worth the �inconvenience� caused to speeding drivers.
Drunk driving used to be socially acceptable. It isn�t now. I hope that before too long, speeding will carry a similar social stigma.
