Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence


APPENDIX 1

RESIDENTS' OPINIONS REGARDING SPEED ENFORCEMENT AND SPEED CAMERAS


Contents
Page
number
1.Introduction
2
2.Methodology
2
3.Awareness of the Speed Down Campaign
4
        3.1 Have you heard of the Speed Down Campaign?
4
        3.2 Where did you hear of the campaign?
4
4.Awareness of the effect of speed on road safety
5
        4.1 If you hit a child at 40 mph, what are their chances of survival?
5
        4.2 Has your awareness of speed on road safety increased in the last two years?
5
5.Speed and Red Light Cameras
6
        5.1 Fewer accidents are likely to happen on roads where cameras are installed
6
        5.2 Cameras mean that dangerous drivers are now more likely to get caught
6
        5.3 Cameras are an easy way of making money out of motorists
7
        5.4 Cameras are meant to encourage drivers to keep to the limits, not punish them
7
6.Additional Comments
8


1.  INTRODUCTION

  This report presents the findings of a face-to-face survey conducted during November 2000. The survey was conducted on behalf of the Traffic Planning Department and provides an assessment of the public's views on the "Speed Down" Campaign currently running in Nottingham.

2.  METHODOLOGY

  During November 2000 a face-to-face survey was conducted with members of the public visiting the Victoria and Broadmarsh shopping centres in Nottingham. Eight hundred and forty five members of the public were asked to take part in the survey, and 511 agreed, resulting in a sample size of 511. Forty one per cent (211) of the participants were male, and 59 per cent (300) were female. Details of the participants' ethnicity and age are presented in the tables below.

  
Ethnicity NumberPer cent
White
468
91.6
Black
19
3.7
Asian
18
3.5
Other
6
1.2
  
Age group NumberPer cent
16-24 years
81
15.9
25-34 years
107
20.9
35-44 years
100
19.6
45-54 years
73
14.3
55-64 years
62
12.1
65+ years
88
17.2


  Of the participants, 60 per cent (308) said that they did drive a motor vehicle, 33 per cent (168) said that they did not drive a motor vehicle, and 7 per cent (35) said that they could drive, but did not.

  Eighty two per cent of the participants (421 persons) said that they lived in Nottingham, while 9 per cent (44 persons) lived in Derbyshire, 4 per cent (22 persons) lived in Leicestershire, 2 per cent (11 persons) lived in Lincolnshire and 2.5 per cent (13 persons) lived in other areas. A breakdown of residency by areas and Nottinghamshire Police divisions is presented in the table below.

  
Residency Number
Per cent
A Division
28
5.5
B Division
160
31.3
C Division
54
10.6
D Division
171
33.5
E Division
8
1.6
Lincolnshire
11
2.2
Derbyshire
44
8.6
Leicestershire
22
4.3
Out of area
13
2.5

3.  AWARENESS OF THE SPEED DOWN CAMPAIGN

3.1  Have you seen or heard of the "Speed Down" campaign running in Nottingham? (Survey Q1)

Have you heard of the "Speed Down" Campaign?
Number
Per cent
Yes
216
42.3
No
295
57.7
Total
511
100.0


  Of those who responded:

    —  42 per cent (216 persons) had heard of the campaign.

    —  58 per cent (295 persons) had not heard of the campaign.

3.2  Where did you see or hear of the campaign? (Survey Q2)

  
Number
Per cent
Seen/heard of campaign on the back of a bus
29
13.4
Seen campaign in a newspaper
47
21.8
Heard of campaign on the radio
32
14.8
Seen campaign on a poster
86
39.8
Seen campaign on a leaflet
7
3.2
Heard/seen campaign on TV
37
17.1
Heard of campaign from another person
12
5.6
Do not know where heard/seen campaign
17
7.9


  Of the 216 persons who had seen or heard of the campaign, some reported that they had seen or heard of the campaign by more than one medium. Of those who had seen or heard of the campaign:

    —  40 per cent (86 persons) had seen the campaign on a poster.

    —  22 per cent (47 persons) had seen the campaign in a newspaper.

    —  17 per cent (37 persons) had seen the campaign on the television.

    —  15 per cent (32 persons) had heard about the campaign on the radio.

    —  13 per cent (29 persons) had seen the campaign on the back of a bus.

    —  8 per cent (17 persons) could not remember where they had seen or heard about the campaign.

    —  6 per cent (12 persons) had heard about the campaign from another person.

    —  1 per cent (7 persons) had seen the campaign on a leaflet.

4.  AWARENESS OF THE EFFECT OF SPEED ON ROAD SAFETY

4.1  If you hit a child at 40 miles per hour, what are their chances of survival? (Survey Q3)

  
Chances of survival Number
Per cent
10 per cent
365
71.4
50 per cent
104
20.4
80 per cent
17
3.3
0 per cent
22
4.3
Don't know
3
0.6


    —  The majority of the participants (71 per cent) correctly thought that if a child was hit by a car travelling at 40 miles per hour, the child would have a 10 per cent chance of surviving.

    —  24 per cent (121) of participants over-estimated the chance of survival.

4.2  Has your awareness of the effect of speed on road safety increased within the last two years? (Survey Q4)

  
Has your awareness of the effects of speed increased? Number
Per cent
Yes
416
81.4
No
71
13.9
Don't know
24
4.7


    —  81 per cent (416) of participants thought that their awareness of the effect of speed on road safety had increased within the last two years.

5.  SPEED AND RED LIGHT CAMERAS

5.1  Fewer accidents are likely to happen on roads where cameras are installed? (Survey Q5)

  
Fewer accidents are likely to happen on roads where cameras are installed Number
Per cent
Strongly agree
108
21.1
Agree
284
55.6
Neither agree nor disagree
42
8.2
Disagree
66
12.9
Strongly disagree
5
1.0
Don't know
6
1.2


    —  77 per cent (392) of the participants agreed with the statement that fewer accidents are likely to happen on roads where cameras are installed.

    —  14 per cent (71) disagreed with this statement.

5.2  Cameras mean that dangerous drivers are now more likely to get caught? (Survey Q6)

  
Cameras mean that dangerous drivers are now more likely to get caught Number
Per cent
Strongly agree
111
21.7
Agree
270
52.8
Neither agree nor disagree
38
7.4
Disagree
78
15.3
Strongly disagree
7
1.4
Don't know
7
1.4


    —  75 per cent (381) participants agreed with the statement that cameras mean that dangerous drivers are now more likely to get caught.

    —  17 per cent (85) disagreed with this statement.

5.3  Cameras are an easy way of making money out of motorists (Survey Q7)

  
Cameras are an easy way of making money out of motorists Number
Per cent
Strongly agree
29
5.7
Agree
128
25.0
Neither agree nor disagree
56
11.0
Disagree
254
49.7
Strongly disagree
23
4.5
Don't know
21
4.1


    —  31 per cent (157) of the participants agreed with the statement that cameras are an easy way of making money out of motorists.

    —  54 per cent (277) of participants disagreed with this statement.

5.4  Cameras are meant to encourage drivers to keep to the limits, not punish them (Survey Q8)

  
Cameras are meant to encourage drivers to keep to the limits, not punish them Number
Per cent
Strongly agree
85
16.6
Agree
362
70.8
Neither agree nor disagree
31
6.1
Disagree
23
4.5
Strongly disagree
7
1.4
Don't know
3
0.6


    —  87 per cent (447) participants agreed with the statement that cameras are meant to encourage drivers to stick to the limits, not punish them.

    —  6 per cent (30) of participants disagreed with this statement.

6.  ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

  The following comments were also given by the participants:


Any other comments
Number
Nice to be asked
1
Good work
2
Campaign a good idea
24
Need more awareness
2
Too many humps
2
More police on roads
3
If film in camera—effective
3
Pedestrians need to take some responsibility
1
Should be catching criminals—not motorists
2
Police should be firmer
1
Would like to know where money goes
1
Some speed bumps are dangerous
2
Harsher penalties
2
Busy traffic in Radford
1
Too many parked cars in Farnsfield
1
Speeding cars in Hucknall
2
Speeding cars in Mapperley
1
Expensive resource
1
Speed humps seem to work
4
Speed humps don't slow the traffic down
2
Basford better now
1
Cameras needed in rural areas
2
Better speed limit signs
1
Should have more cameras in built up areas
1
Too much traffic
9


    —  24 persons said that they thought the campaign was a good idea.

    —  nine persons said that they thought there was too much traffic on the roads.

    —  Mixed opinions regarding "speed humps" were recorded where four persons thought that speed humps seemed to work, two persons thought they failed to slow the traffic down and two persons thought there were too many of them.


 
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