Following a 40% (£559,886.81) in-year reduction in the specific road safety grant to Oxfordshire, the County Council took the decision to withdraw funding from the partnership and to stop the use of fixed and mobile speed cameras, plus red-light cameras on their road network. A total of 72 fixed cameras were ‘switched-off’ on the 1st August 2010 and the move was well-publicised in the local, national and even international press.
It was agreed that speed monitoring would continue to take place at a handful of sites after 1st August to determine the effect the switch-off had on offence rates. The monitoring consisted of an electronic counter attached to the radar units still operational within the camera housings, and set to the appropriate ‘threshold’. The threshold for 30mph limits has been 35mph for several years in Thames Valley, meaning an offence is classed as a speed of 35mph or greater. The devices do not record average speeds or the number of vehicles exceeding the posted speed limit. The threshold for 40mph roads is 46mph.
This report looks at the evidence retrieved from four sites (six ‘locations’) in Oxfordshire in the 32 days following the switch-off.
You can view the full report here