Law embraces as many aspects of community life as it may reach. Traffic Rules and road safety is one of the most obvious instances regulated by practical law. In the UK the use of speed cameras is a matter of the state which is specified in The Road Traffic Act 1991.

           According to UK Road Safety Information Bulletin (2011), drivers travelling at higher speeds have less time to identify and react to what is happening around them. It takes longer for the vehicle to stop. And the crash will be more severe, causing greater injury to the occupants and any pedestrian or a rider hit by the vehicle.

           Higher speeds also create the severity of an injury in a collision. Approximately two-thirds of all crashes in which people are killed or injured happen on roads with a speed limit of 30 mph or less.

           For car occupants, the risk of being killed in collision with another vehicle increases with speed. The risk is much higher in a side impact. For pedestrians struck by cars, the risk of fatality increases slowly until impact speeds of around 30 mph. Above this speed, risk increases rapidly (between 3.5 and 5.5 times from 30 mph to 40 mph).

           Unfortunately, most drivers exceed the speed limit at some time even in urban areas during free flowing traffic.

           The Road Traffic Act 1991 enables Courts to accept evidence of speeding from type approved cameras accompanied only by a certificate signed on behalf of the relevant police force.

           Fixed speed cameras are located at selected roadside sites, typically a yellow box on a grey pole. Usually, there are white markings on the road to help calculate vehicles' speed and give extra warning to drivers of the camera's presence to discourage them from breaking the speed limit. Mobile speed cameras are moved from site to site according to local accident data.

           A review of the evidence of the effectiveness of speed cameras in 2010 examined data from the above four year study plus many other UK and international studies along with data on traffic speeds, collisions and casualties.    The report concluded that cameras at more than 4,000 sites across Great Britain prevented some 3,600 personal injury collisions, saving around 1,000 people from being killed or seriously injured.

           The evidence for speed cameras shows that they are effective at reducing speeds and preventing accidents, especially in preventing more serious and fatal accidents.

           The magnitude and the consistency of the results across different countries and types of road provides a high level of confidence that the introduction of speed cameras does reduce accidents at the sites where they are located.

           While more research would strengthen the evidence base, the studies demonstrating their effectiveness are the strongest evidence available and must be used to inform decision making: Cameras save lives.

 ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:

1.​ Does this story have anything to do with law?

2.​ What proof can you find in the text to support your opinion?

3.​ What is the text about?

4.​ What is a speed camera (SC)?

5.​ Are speed cameras (SC) really effective?

6.​ What is the proof of SC's effectiveness?

7.​ What is evidence base collected for?

8.​ Do you know of any SCs fixed upon roads in Russia?

9.​ Could you develop your idea of using SCs on Russian roads?

10.​ Who do you think is responsible for SCs on the roads?

11.​ What do you think the state's objective of fixing SCs on the roads?

12. What do you think about SCs and the road situation in England as compared to that in Russia?

Unit 2

VIOLENCE