SPEED cameras are losing millions of pounds a year, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.
New figures released last night scotch the myth that the roadside snappers were only installed to make cash for the Government.
The nationwide network of more than 500 cameras now costs nearly twice as much to run as the fines they manage to levy,
Scottish Safety Cameras, the body responsible for them, said yesterday.
The number of motorists caught speeding by the cameras has halved in the past four years and is thought to have raised under £4m in fines in 2008-09. That compares with running costs for the whole network of £7.2m.
Campaigners say the figures prove that motorists are slowing down and taking notice of the cameras, while others have claimed that the high cost of fuel and the credit crunch have made motorists hit their brakes.
Jim Dale, director of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme, said: "We are delighted to see fewer people caught in our cameras; that means motorists are slowing down.
"Safety cameras were never designed to make money; they were designed to prevent accidents and save lives.
"We only really consider an individual camera to be a success if we see a fall in the number of people that it catches. To be honest, a camera that catches a lot of drivers isn't doing its job, because it is supposed to be making people slow down."
The number of motorists caught by the camera network fell from a record 144,235 in 2004-05, the last year the network turned "a profit", to 88,427 in 2007-08. Dale said unaudited figures for 2008-09 showed further reductions of more than 30%. "We anticipate the final number will be in the mid-60,000s," he said yesterday.
Speed camera partnerships – there are eight across Scotland, all coordinated by Dale's nationwide body – have had to bid for their direct funding from the Scottish Government since 2007. They are not allowed to keep any of their fines. So there is no financial incentive for them to catch more motorists or chalk up a notional profit rather than loss, Dale said.
Backers of speed cameras, including the UK and Scottish Governments, believe they have saved hundreds of lives since they were introduced.
Critics, however, have campaigned vociferously against the cameras, often called Gatsos after their main manufacturer, Gatsometer, a Dutch firm.
One small group, called MAD, has claimed responsibility for blowing up several Gatsos. Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, for a Christmas DVD, took one camera out using a rocket launcher fired from inside a Porsche.
Richard Baker, Labour's justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, yesterday said the 'losses' chalked up by the camera system proved the scheme was working.
He said: "We should be celebrating the success speed cameras have had. They have made our roads safer, although there are some areas, including Grampian, where speeding figures are still growing.
"It is now impossible for anyone to argue that cameras are only money-makers for the Government.
"We should expect to pay from the public purse for these cameras – because they make roads safer and slower."
Road safety campaigners last week welcomed figures that showed the number of road traffic offences had hit their lowest level since the Millennium.
Police recorded just 348,000 offences in 2007-08, down from a peak of 435,000 in 2003-04. The decline in offences in the past decade comes despite the total number of cars on the road rising by about a quarter.
The number of people killed and injured on British roads last year was the lowest since records began in 1926. The Scottish Government has set itself the target of cutting the number of road fatalities by 40% between 1994-1998 and 2011. It has already surpassed that figure, with deaths down 45% and amounting to 281 last year. It also aimed to halve the number of children who died on the roads in the same period. Last year there were nine, down 67%.
Neil Greig, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said figures did suggest that lower speeds – and speed cameras – were helping to save lives. "But the fall is probably down to a whole combination of factors, including better road and vehicle design," he said.
Some last night suggested the average drop in speeding offences recorded by the police may be a sign of the credit crunch.
One senior police officer said: "Have you seen how much petrol costs? People are slowing down to save money. But a lot of drivers are still committing an offence of one kind or another almost every time they get behind the wheel."
Claire Armstrong, of Safe Speed, a body that campaigns against Gatsos, said: "During a recession, people drive defensively and that can mean more slowly. Drivers are also learning where the speed cameras are, or using satnavs or other devices that warn them when they are coming up to them.
"We think it would be perfectly safe to drive without a speedometer: it is more important to drive at the right speed for the conditions than to sit watching your speedo."
Dale, meanwhile, questioned whether anybody who missed a brightly coloured and carefully marked speed camera was paying attention to the road at all. "If you are missing speed cameras," he said, "what else are you missing?"
