Cost Of Speed Cameras Revealed

More than £1.2million is spent fixing speed cameras across Scotland.

More than £1.2 million has been spent maintaining and repairing speed cameras across Scotland over the last five years, it has emerged.

That equates to £103,000 in Fife and Tayside.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives have revealed that while the year-on-year spend has fallen slightly, a total of £1,276,499 of public money has been used “on maintenance costs” since 2009/10. 

The Strathclyde Safety Camera Partnership area totalled the most with around £581,000, closely followed by Lothian and Borders on £439,000. 

The Parliamentary Question, asked by Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, also showed more than £50,000 was spent repairing speed cameras which had been vandalised in the last five years. 

The number of those incidents totalled 18, with around £28,000 spent in Lothian and Borders, and £24,000 in the North East. 

Speed cameras rake in more than £4 million a year in Scotland, leading many motorists to believe they are simply being used as a cash cow, rather than to improve road safety. 

Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser said: 

“This huge spend will not sit well with motorists who are continually hit in the pocket by speed cameras. 

“There is real scepticism among the public about the Scottish Government’s motivation for having so many cameras – fixed and mobile – across Scotland. 

“The fact so much money has been spent maintaining and repairing these will do nothing to soothe that attitude. 

“When you see how much money they rake in from motorists, it’s no wonder the authorities are so quick to plough money back in to ensure they work. 

“But if cameras really were about saving lives, they wouldn’t be so prevalent on what are many of Scotland’s safest roads. 

“Instead, they would be outside schools and in built-up residential areas and, if that was the case, drivers would be a lot more accepting of them.”

Murdo Fraser says the picture is more positive in the Kingdom.