The risk of an accident rises the faster you drive. At 25% above the average speed, a driver is about 6 times more likely to have an accident than a driver travelling at the average speed.

10 people die and 100 people are seriously injured on the UK's roads each day.

1 in 4 of the UK's road deaths each year involve road users in the 17 –24 year old age group.

Safety cameras
Safety cameras are at locations that have a history of traffic collisions, anywhere there has been serious injury or death. Safety cameras include:

• Speed cameras: record vehicles passing in excess of a pre-defined speed.
• Average speed cameras: record the average speed of vehicles between two points over longer stretches of road.
• Red light cameras: record vehicles that pass through a red traffic light.

Safety cameras have already been shown to save lives throughout the country:

• Instances of personal injury fell by 64% at fixed safety camera sites.
• 67% drop in fatalities at fixed safety camera sites.
• Average speeds of vehicles at the sites have fallen by 8% or 4.2 mph.
• Government research reveals that a reduction of 1% in the average speed of vehicles will lead to a 5% reduction in casualties.
• Average speed cameras have proved very effective in reducing speeds over longer distances.

Make yourself aware of these locations and slow down - not because of the cameras - but because it saves lives.

The penalty

• Should you be caught speeding or if you go through a red traffic light, the speed camera will capture the registration of the vehicle you are driving, and a Notice of Intended Prosecution will be sent automatically to the registered keeper of the vehicle involved within 14 days of the offence.
• In most instances, as an alternative to prosecution the driver will be offered a Fixed Penalty Notice of £60, which must be paid within 28 days of the notice being issued, and three penalty points which will be endorsed on your licence.
• Penalty points are valid on your licence for a period of three years but you can only apply to have them removed once four years have passed.
• If your speed is above certain limits, you may be prosecuted in court where you will receive a monetary fine and your driving licence will be endorsed with penalty points or you may even be disqualified from driving altogether.
• You'll be disqualified from driving once you have 12 points on your licence. If you're a new driver and you gather 6 or more penalty points in your first 2 years of driving, you will be disqualified and will then need to resit your theory and practical driving tests.

Facing the fine

• The responsibility for completing the Notice of Intended Prosecution is with the owner of the vehicle who must provide information as to the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence.
• Owners who can't identify the driver involved face a fine of up to £1000 and 6 penalty points on their driving licence.
• If you choose to ignore the notice and you were the driver of the vehicle involved, penalties are also much higher for the offence with a maximum fine of £1000 (£2,500 for motorway offences and 3 to 6 penalty points being endorsed on your licence.
• If you don't have the correct personal details on your licence, send it in with the Notice of Intended Prosecution within the 28 day period and it will be returned to you with the penalty points endorsed on it. You can then send it to the D.V.L.A. to have the details changed. The Safety Camera Partnerships have websites that can also help you.