Say ‘Cheese’ for Safer Roads

Curse them you might - especially if a costly moving violation issued in your name comes in the mail - but so-called speed cameras lead to long-term changes in driver behavior and substantial reductions in vehicular deaths and injuries. That’s according to a recent study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Virginia. Municipalities are installing roadway cameras that can clock, photograph and identify speeders, both for added safety and to bolster revenues without raising taxes. It’s a growing, though not necessarily skyrocketing trend, with 138 jurisdictions across the U.S. employing the robo-troopers. According to the IIHS, if all U.S. communities had speed-camera programs, more than 21,000 fatal or incapacitating injuries would have been prevented in 2013. “Speed cameras get drivers to ease off the accelerator, and crashes are less likely to be deadly at lower speeds,” says IIHS president Adrian Lund. “This study connects the dots to show that speed cameras save lives.”