Gender differences in responses to speed cameras

Automated speed cameras in England and Wales have become a very common means of enforcement of speed limit breaches in most police force areas, but they are not without controversy despite the majority of public opinion behind them. Research in the mid-1990s showed that drivers responded to speed cameras in one of several key ways, and the typology of responses produced was linked with drivers’ characteristics. Now that women comprise more than 4 out of 10 licensed drivers in England and Wales, it is timely to revisit the earlier research by considering the gender characteristics of the driver typology, and this article contrasts the results longitudinally with those obtained from a 2003 survey that inter alia explored similar issues. The implications for road safety of the behavioural and attitudinal differences noted by gender (and age) are discussed, especially in the context of risk-based control policies and the term ‘drivers’. This latter aspect is achieved by way of a brief analysis of national newspaper articles.