NEW CALL TO BOOST ROAD SAFETY USING FINES FUND

Police and charities want motoring fines to help pay for safety measures

- JOHN EVANS

Police chiefs and charities have appealed to the government to let them spend cash raised through speed camera fines on road safety measures, rather than it going straight to Treasury coffers, as hundreds of people continue to die on UK roads every year.

In 2024, four people were killed each day, and 76 were seriously injured, as a result of highway incidents. Although fatalities dropped by 1% compared with 2023, road safety charities such as RoSPA and the RAC Foundation say that it isn't enough and that the figures indicate a lack of progress in reducing deaths and injuries.

The charities have now teamed up with a number of police forces that have called on the government to use the approximately £100 million a year generated from speed camera fines for more deterrents.

These include expanding the network of average-speed enforcement and red-light cameras, installing speed and traffic-calming measures, delivering additional road safety programmes and running public education campaigns.