Vehicle Activated Signs: The Solution for Sandridge?

Vehicle activated signs - flashing signs that illuminate only when drivers are speeding - offer a more effective and economic way than speed cameras to improve compliance with speed limits and secure increases in road safety, according to the latest Government research.

These signs can be set to illuminate a message that can reveal the number plate of the speeding vehicle, the speed clocked, a simple request to slow down or to display smiley faces for compliant drivers and a sad expression for those exceeding the limit.

In comparison with speed cameras, these vehicle-activated signs have been shown to be -

· more effective at reducing speed
· more successful in reducing accidents
· five times cheaper to install
· substantially easier and cheaper to maintain
· popular with the public

They can entirely eliminate the need for enforcement and, compared with road humps, chicanes and other expensive measures, pose no problems for emergency vehicles, whilst noise and nuisance are totally absent.

In addition they have been found to improve the flow of traffic by reducing the sprint between junctions. This in turn improves stress levels among drivers.

More effective at reducing speed
In Nottingham, average speeds were reduced by between 5% and 6% compared with speed cameras, whilst in Norfolk, compliance with the speed limit improved by around 8%.

Performance data retrieved on site can be accessed either through the Internet or locally via hand-held computers. The speed and number plate of every vehicle is captured and graphs reveal, in 5mph stages, exact percentages exceeding the limit.

More successful in reducing accidents
Government studies in Norfolk show that accidents fell 20% more than through the use of speed cameras.

In a notorious accident blackspot in Nottingham there have been no fatalities over a three year period since their introduction. Serious injuries have been reduced by 40% and minor injuries by 30%.

These findings are similar to those in other parts of the country, and councils are seeking to extend their use in preference to speed cameras.

Five times cheaper to install
Each device costs £5,000, one fifth the price of a speed camera. Installation is simple and quick, especially compared with certain other forms of traffic calming, e.g. road humps and chicanes.

The illuminating signs can also be mounted onto mobile units, allowing greater flexibility in targeting hotspots within a given locality.

Substantially easier and cheaper to maintain
Being digital, they require negligible maintenance, whereas speed cameras cost £8,000 per annum just to change the film regularly. An additional bonus is that police operational times are also significantly reduced.

Popular with the public
Vehicle activated signs work on the principle of peer pressure. ‘People don’t like being exposed and they react by slowing down. Unlike signs giving speed limits, the vehicle activated signs are difficult to ignore.’

The Transport Research Laboratory study found that the 450 drivers questioned overwhelmingly approved of vehicle activated signs, and this is born out by newspaper reports from all over the country where local communities have universally given them the thumbs up.

Speed cameras, on the other hand, are becoming more unpopular as drivers increasingly perceive them merely as a source of revenue for the police rather than as a means to reduce accidents.

Need for enforcement eliminated
Vehicle activated signs can completely eradicate the need for enforcement because compliance is obtained voluntarily rather than through the threat of fines. Even though drivers may realise they will escape a fine, they still slow down. Thus the bureaucracy usually required to pursue offenders is eliminated.

In Norfolk the evidence also shows that compliance does not diminish over time. ‘Even after three years, there was no evidence that drivers became less responsive to fines’.

No system is 100% effective, however, and if required, the sign technology can also allow serious offenders to be identified and fined or charged in the usual way.

Tony Kavanagh, 07/01/04        back to top

Kavanagh's Formal Proposal
Vehicle Activated Signs

In my opinion vehicle activated signs have emerged as the single most achievable and acceptable way to improve compliance with speed limits and increase road safety in the vicinity of Sandridge Village. Attached is a small selection of articles and reports, all of which point to their success and popular support.

Given the prohibitive costs and difficulties confronting other measures, vehicle activated signs present an inexpensive and cost-effective alternative that can be installed with the minimum of disruption and fuss, whilst achieving outcomes that exceed those of speed cameras and compare very favourably with all other measures.

Feedback from previous communications with Highways has left little doubt that unless we as a Parish Council can unite behind a single coherent, affordable and achievable proposal we are unlikely to succeed in securing any further significant improvements in traffic calming for Sandridge Village in the foreseeable future.

I therefore request that Sandridge Parish Council supports the following proposal:

That maximum and sustained pressure through a co-ordinated campaign of public information and if necessary, a petition, is brought to bear on HCC until agreement is reached that three vehicle-activated signs be installed at the main approaches to Sandridge Village.

These to be sited at or near the main 30 mph-limit entry points, as follows:

1. B651 just north of the junction with Coleman Green Lane

2. B651 southern approach

3. House Lane

All signs facing toward village-bound traffic.

Total cost: c£15,000.

Tony Kavanagh 06/01/2004        back to top

The Reaction

Following my proposal to SPC at yesterday's (Jan 2004) meeting for three Vehicle Activated Signs (VAS) to be installed at the main approaches to the village has won the unanimous support of the Parish Council. SPC is also prepared to help fund the project.

Co-incidentally, Chris Whiteside has written an encouraging message to SPC:

'I understand that if the Parish were to ask for one or two of these signs there is a good chance that they can be organised, whether or not we can also get speed cameras, and that if the Parish Council were willing to offer a contribution to the cost there is as even better chance.'

Chris says that Vehicle Activated Signs are not subject to the stringent
qualifications that apply to speed cameras.

He also reports that the County are looking into the possibility of speed cameras for the village.

I would be interested to hear everyone's views on this proposal.
Contact Tony here.

Tony Kavanagh Jan 2004        back to top

also see:       Background       Protest