29 Mar. 2023 13:49
Do speeding cameras really decrease the risk of accidents? Because what I have noticed in many EU countries, is that people suddenly brake when seeing a camera, causing danger to the cars behind and to themselves. Especially dangerous and frustrating is that many drivers slow down way beyond the legal limit, for example slowing down to 70km/h on a street where 90km/h is allowed, causing traffic and possibly dangers to others. On top of this, I would assume that this has negative effects on the environment, braking and speeding up unnecessarily, which surely causes more pollution if done en masse. With this request, I would like to suggest that a study be undertaken to investigate both the safety risks of speeding cameras and the pollution around them as compared to other sections of the road where there are no cameras. Furthermore, many speed limits in Europe have been set at a time when cars' safety features and braking distances were far inferior to those of most modern cars. Therefore it might also be beneficial to investigate if current speed limits should maybe be increased on certain open roads, to decrease the time that people spend in their car, which could decrease tiredness behind the wheel.
29 Mar. 2023 13:49
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19 Apr. 2023 08:55
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06 Jun. 2023 08:13
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Patrick Breyer @ 19 Apr. 2023 08:53
Thank you for your proposal. I am afraid the deadline for study proposals in my LIBE committee has passed, plus the EU has limited competence on speed cameras: The EU has set up safety requirements for motor vehicles in the Directive 2014/45/EU and road infrastructure safety management in Directive 2008/96/EC. The latter imposes on Member States to conduct safety assessments on major roads which are followed up by action. Nevertheless, the EU is not prescribing detailed actions to the Member State. However, let me make some general comments. Efficiency of speed cameras, when combined with appropriate warnings, has been proven. Nonetheless, they may not be a comprehensive solution to improving road safety on their own. We advocate for a data-driven approach such as in Belgium where regularly updated safety indicators have to be taken into account when installing speed cameras, together with a sign indicating the presence of the camera in order to avoid steep braking. As a Pirate Party Member of a regional parliament a few years ago, I dealt with the problem of speed cameras. We organised a hearing. The Pirates group called for the following: 1) ensuring that speed monitoring facilities without a police presence are consistently announced openly by means of signs, as well as in the media and on the internet, and that they are restricted to places where serious speeding accidents actually occur, 2) ensuring that revenues from speed enforcement measures are reserved for the exclusive use of the state's road safety measures and cannot be used to improve the general municipal budgets, 3) lifting the German ban on the use of radar detector technology. You can find out more about our motions, our reasoning and relevant studies by translating to English the following documents: https://www.landtag.ltsh.de/infothek/wahl18/drucks/1600/drucksache-18-1667.pdf https://www.patrick-breyer.de/schutz-statt-abzocke-piraten-fuer-abschaffung-verdeckter-radarfallen/ https://www.patrick-breyer.de/studie-zu-radarfallen-nur-erkennbare-radarkontrollen-wirken/ https://www.patrick-breyer.de/expertenanhoerung-werden-radarfallen-abgeschafft/ Regarding speed limits, we also oppose speed restrictions on autobahn. I hope this gives you an idea of the Pirate policy on the matter, even if we can’t pursue the matter at EU level at this time. Note that Pirates are not currently Members of the TRAN Committee on transport.
D.B. @ 26 May. 2023 12:00
An excellent reply from Patrick, many thanks for taking the time to go into such detail and for the factual approach. Indeed, it would appear that the sudden braking and acceleration (as seen in certain parts of Europe) may not be related to the presence of speed cameras as such but rather to the issues that Patrick mentions. I would also be interested to see what is being done pedagogically at the driving school level to discourage novel drivers from taking unnecessary risks and compromising their safety and that of other road users, as well as better education on the many purposes that speed limits serve, aside from the immediate road safety aspects, such as noise and pollution reduction.