Experts have warned that inactive speed cameras should be removed from Britain’s roads before they cause a significant accident. Road safety experts recently undertook a Freedom of Information Act request, revealing that 46% of fixed speed cameras in England and Wales were inactive.
Now, the campaigners are calling on police forces and local authorities to ensure all fixed cameras are active or to remove them altogether.
They say that inactive cameras serve no purpose but to distract motorists and warn that they can potentially cause a significant accident.
Back in 2018, entrepreneur Shed Simove was banned from selling a dummy speed camera by police, who warned him that he could face seven years in jail if one of his devices distracted a motorist and led to an accident.
Yet it seems the authorities now feel inactive speed cameras pose little threat following the recent FOI request revelation that almost half of all fixed cameras are inactive.
Now, the safety campaigners from Road Angel are calling on police forces to remove inactive cameras.
Road Angel founder Gary Digva said inactive cameras had the potential to confuse drivers and served no real purpose.
He said: “We believe if speed cameras are in place, they should be operating. Inactive speed cameras serve no purpose but to confuse motorists and other road users and could be dangerous.
“That’s why we made a Freedom of Information Request to the Department of Transport to find out exactly how many fixed-speed cameras work on our roads.
“We were shocked when our FOI request revealed that almost half of fixed cameras weren’t working.
“At Road Angel, we believe speed cameras help encourage motorists to drive safely, but our view is that cameras should be working.
“If a camera is inactive and remains so for many months or even years at a time, then it begs the question, why is it there?
“Yes, it may still play a part in encouraging traffic to slow down, but it could also act to distract drivers and potentially cause an accident.
“Our view is that if cameras are present, then drivers should be able to feel assured that they are working. If they are non-operational, then they should be removed.
“That is why we are calling on police forces and local authorities across the country to audit cameras and remove non-operational devices as quickly as possible.”
Road Angel’s Study
The Department for Transport provided data from 25 43 police forces across England and Wales. Three forces, Durham, North Yorks and Wiltshire, reported they had no fixed speed cameras, so we eliminated them and published the results from the remaining 22 forces in a table – please see below.
Key Findings
- Almost half (46%) of fixed-speed cameras are non-operational.
- All eight fixed-speed cameras in Northamptonshire were inactive, while Gwent only had one active camera of 31.
- Derbyshire has more speed cameras out of action than any other region (93), with only 20 of the 113 across the county capable of catching speeding motorists.
- Derbyshire (113), Essex (110) and Devon & Cornwall (110) are the regions across England with the most speed cameras – each having at least 40% incapable of catching speeding drivers.
- Only two police force areas had all speed cameras working – Dyfed-Powys in Wales and Suffolk. Both of these police forces have just four devices each.
- The West Midlands had only five per cent of their speed cameras standing inactive, with 62 out of 65 devices in operation.
- Leicestershire has 18 fixed-speed camera sites, yet only four are working, leaving 78% of the devices inactive.
- Cambridgeshire has 17 inactive speed cameras out of the 46 within the region. Neighbouring Bedfordshire has just 8% of operational devices.
Results in Full
Police Force |
Total Speed Cameras |
Total Active |
Total Inactive |
Percentage of Inactive |
| Northamptonshire | 8 | 0 | 8 | 100% |
| Gwent | 31 | 1 | 30 | 97% |
| North Wales | 12 | 2 | 10 | 83% |
| Sussex | 59 | 10 | 49 | 83% |
| Derbyshire | 113 | 20 | 93 | 82% |
| Leicestershire | 18 | 4 | 14 | 78% |
| South Wales | 86 | 21 | 65 | 76% |
| Kent | 89 | 36 | 53 | 60% |
| Essex | 110 | 50 | 60 | 55% |
| Devon & Cornwall | 102 | 58 | 44 | 43% |
| Humber | 33 | 20 | 13 | 39% |
| Cambridgeshire | 46 | 29 | 17 | 37% |
| Norfolk | 25 | 17 | 8 | 32% |
| Cumbria | 22 | 17 | 5 | 23% |
| Mersey | 16 | 13 | 3 | 19% |
| West Mercia | 36 | 31 | 5 | 14% |
| Avon & Somerset | 44 | 40 | 4 | 9% |
| Bedfordshire | 97 | 89 | 8 | 8% |
| Hertfordshire | 49 | 45 | 4 | 8% |
| West Mids | 65 | 62 | 3 | 5% |
| Dyfed-Powys | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Suffolk | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0% |
To learn more about Road Angel’s FOI request, please visit https://www.roadangelgroup.
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