A9 Safety Group Vehicle Speeds and Speed Enforcement Summary Report August 2013 Executive Summary This report presents a summary of a review undertaken by the A9 Safety Group to better understand existing vehicle speed and speed enforcement statistics on the A9. Speed enforcement is currently undertaken through a combination of the Trunk Road Patrol Group under Police Scotland and Northern, Tayside and Central Safety Camera Partnerships (SCP). SCP enforcement records have been reviewed and demonstrate that the highest speeding offence rates occur at mobile enforcement sites south of Inverness, in particular on the Dunblane to Perth section of the route. Vehicle speed data was collected at 23 traffic counters spread across the A9 between Dunblane and Inverness. A review of speed data collected at these counter locations indicates that approximately 37% of cars and 29% of motorcycles are exceeding the posted speed on single carriageway sections of the route between Perth and Inverness. Considering an average across all dual carriageway counters interrogated, approximately 36% of cars and 48% of motorcycles were identified as exceeding the posted speed. Three traffic counters on the A9 are currently capable of separately recording speeds of HGVs greater than 7.5 tonnes. These weigh in motion (WIM) sites categorise up to 19 vehicle classes, ranging from cyclists to HGVs with 7 or more axles and allow us to identify how different vehicle types are using the route. Based on these counters, the average speed on dual sections for HGVs>7.5 tonnes was 3.7 mph above the speed limit of 50 mph whilst the average speed for single carriageway sections of the route was 10 mph above the speed limit of 40 mph. Vehicle Speed and Speed Enforcement Summary Report A9 Safety Group Contents 1.! Overview / Purpose 1! 2.! Current Speed Enforcement 2! 3.! Speed Enforcement Statistics 5! 4.! Vehicle Speed Data 9! 5.! HGVs Above 7.5 Tonnes 15! 6.! Summary 19! Vehicle Speed and Speed Enforcement Summary Report A9 Safety Group 1. Overview / Purpose The A9 Safety Group was set up by Transport Scotland in July 2012. The main aim of the group is to work together to positively influence driver behaviour in a way that helps to reduce road casualty figures on the route before and during the A9 dualling programme. The A9 Safety Group is currently progressing a number of actions to help achieve this aim. Principally this involves the development of an ‘evidence base’ to help to understand the current issues on the route affecting road safety. This evidence base can then be used to provide a robust basis from which the group can identify and target appropriate measures to improve driver behaviour. Understanding vehicle speeds and the current approach and statistics from existing speed enforcement across the route forms a key part of the development of the ‘evidence base’. In the first instance, this information will assist inform effective deployment plans for future speed enforcement on the route. The purpose of this report is therefore to present a succinct summary of the current: • Speed enforcement approach and statistics; and • Average vehicle speeds on the A9. 1 Vehicle Speed and Speed Enforcement Summary Report A9 Safety Group 2. Current Speed Enforcement 2.1. Overview Speed enforcement on the A9 has historically been undertaken by Central Scotland Police, Tayside Police, Northern Constabulary and the respective Safety Camera Partnerships (SCPs). However the police approach to speed enforcement on the route has recently changed (since 1 April 2013) following the formation of the Trunk Road Patrol Group under Police Scotland. The existing safety camera partnerships continue to undertake duties for speed enforcement on the route and Figure 1 below illustrates the Safety Camera Partnership regional boundaries in relation to the A9. Figure 1 –Safety Camera Partnership Boundaries Speed enforcement is currently undertaken through three primary means: • A number of fixed safety cameras; • Mobile safety cameras (fitted to vehicles) at selected sites; and • Regular police patrols. 2 Vehicle Speed and Speed Enforcement Summary Report A9 Safety Group 2.2. Police Enforcement The police regularly commit resources to patrol the route to enforce speeds and poor / dangerous driving (in addition to attending all serious and fatal road traffic accidents). The level of deployment can vary significantly on a day to day basis as result of the need to attend other operational matters. 2.3. Safety Camera Partnership Enforcement 2.3.1. Approach Tayside SCP uses a combination of both fixed and mobile safety cameras, whereas Central and Northern SCPs use only mobile safety cameras to encourage road users on the A9 to observe posted speed limits on the route. An A9 speed enforcement route strategy is used to inform speed enforcement on the route. As a result, mobile enforcement is undertaken across the entire length of the route and not just at identified casualty ‘hotspots’. 2.3.2. Locations There are a total of 5 fixed safety camera sites and 109 mobile enforcement locations that have been identified for speed enforcement on the A9. The SCPs develop a programme for speed enforcement across these route locations. Fixed camera sites are primarily located towards the southern end of the route, with 3 positioned on the Broxden to Keir Roundabout section and the remaining two located near Blair Atholl and Aberfeldy respectively. Mobile enforcement locations are widely spread across the route; however there is an increased concentration of sites south of Inverness. Appendix A illustrates the locations of the fixed and mobile safety cameras sites on the route. 2.3.3. Process / Investment Each SCP is responsible for the process of undertaking speed enforcement on the route. Following each period of enforcement, back office processing is then undertaken to record offence details of vehicles that have been detected as exceeding the enforcement speed threshold and Intended Notices of Prosecution prepared. As each SCP has responsibilities for speed enforcement on various routes besides the A9, it is not possible to put an estimate on the level of financial investment of speed enforcement on the A9. 3 Vehicle Speed and Speed Enforcement Summary Report A9 Safety Group 2.4. Limitations of Current Approach The current approach to speed enforcement on the route makes best use of available resources and information to target and address speeding issues. However it is recognised that there are a number of limitations that affect speed enforcement on the route: • Grant funding limitations affecting resourcing and network of camera provision; • Inability to enforce at mobile enforcement locations during the hours of darkness; and • Length and rural nature of the A9 resulting in long journey times for mobile enforcement. 4 Vehicle Speed and Speed Enforcement Summary Report A9 Safety Group 3. Speed Enforcement Statistics 3.1. Approach to Summary Statistics relating to speed enforcement undertaken by the SCPs on the A9 in 2012 have been collected and summarised in Table 1 overleaf. This information has been broken down by the following route sections: • Dunblane to Perth; • Perth to Inverness; • Inverness to Dornoch; and • Dornoch to Scrabster. In addition to this, the speed enforcement statistics have been summarised by common route provisions (single carriageway and dual carriageway) across each of the above route sections. The following details are provided: • Number of Enforcement Locations; • Made Known Offences (the number of vehicles caught travelling at a speed above the enforcement threshold for each respective vehicle class); • Deployment Hours (the number of hours that vehicle speeds were being enforced); and • Offences per Hour. The statistics presented do not include data relating to speed enforcement undertaken by the respective Police forces as this information is not readily available. 5 Vehicle Speed and Speed Enforcement Summary Report A9 Safety Group 3.2. Speed Enforcement Statistics iageway) A9 Route Total Route A9 (Dual Carriageway) (Dual Carriageway) (Dual Carr (Single Carriageway) (Single Carriageway) (Single Carriageway) Dornoch to Scrabster Scrabster to Dornoch Inverness to Dornoch Inverness to Dornoch Dunblane to Inveralmond Inveralmond to Dunblane Inveralmond to Inverness Inveralmond to Inverness le Locations Route Total Route Section Total Section Total Section Fixed Cameras Fixed Cameras Fixed Cameras Fixed Mobile Locations Mobile Locations Mobile Locations Mobile Locations Mobile Locations Mobile Mobi Locations Mobile Number of Sites 3 9 12 18 2 52 54 3 14 13 5 109 114 Made Known Offences 1,245 4,589 5,834 834 1,886 4,491 6,377 94 95 135 3,131 10,238 13,369 Deployment Hours 12209 395 12604 209 10618 707 11325 26 86 88 22827 1512 24340 Offences / Hour 0.10 11.62 0.46 3.99 0.18 6.35 0.56 3.62 1.10 1.53 0.14 6.77 0.55 Table 1 – A9 SCP Speed Enforcement Statistics (2012) 6 Vehicle Speed and Speed Enforcement Summary Report A9 Safety Group 3.3. Speed Enforcement Summary A summary of the key observations from the 2012 speed enforcement statistics are noted below: • Across the full route there was on average 0.14 offences per hour through the deployment of fixed safety cameras; • Considering mobile enforcement only, on average 6.77 offences per hour were recorded at mobile enforcement location across the full route; • The volume and rate of offences at fixed camera sites is significantly less than at mobile enforcement locations. This is primarily because fixed safety cameras continuously operate (24/7) whereas mobile enforcement is more targeted at relevant times of the day; • The offence rates appear to be higher south of Inverness and in particular across the Dunblane to Perth section of the route; • On average there were 11.62 offences per hour through mobile enforcement on the Dunblane to Perth section; and • On the Perth to Inverness section of the route, offence rates per hour were higher on single carriageway sections (mobile enforcement) compared to on dual sections.