The highly successful Average Speed Over Distance (ASOD) camera  enforcement network  has now been extended to cover a larger part of the notorious stretch of the  N1 road from Beaufort West to Laingsburg in the Western Cape. This is the fourth phase of this enforcement technology that has seen a substantial decrease in both road fatalities, as well as non-compliance in with speed limits, on the province’s most dangerous road.

How it works:

• The Average Speed Over Distance (ASOD) system calculates the average speed of a vehicle from the time it passes the first camera until it passes the second camera
• The average speed is then determined by the time that it has taken a vehicle to travel from point A (where the first camera is located) to point B (where the second camera is located)
• Reaching point B in a time shorter than what is determined by the distance and the speed limit, means that the driver was speeding.

First three phases of ASOD:

1. October 2011: R61 from Beaufort West to Aberdeen covering 71.6km.
2. December 2012: N1 from Beaufort West to Three Sisters covering 31.7km.
3. October 2013: R27 West Coast covering 57.2km.

This fourth phase of the ASOD system from Beaufort West to Laingsburg will cover a total of 190.6km. Cost of this phase was R4 million.

ASOD N1 LAINGSBURG TO BEAUFORT WEST
POSITION	STRETCH FROM	MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT	SPEED LIMIT AT CAMERA POSITION	LINKED WITH	MEASURED DISTANCE
1	Laingsburg	Laingsburg	120	Dwyka	66.10
2	Dwyka	Prince Albert	120	Leeu-Gamka	62.10
3	Leeu-Gamka	Beaufort West	120	Beaufort West	62.40

“This fourth phase of the project now means that a total of 351.1kms of the province’s deadly roads are now covered by the average speed over distance camera enforcement system. What were previously notorious stretches of road for speeding and road deaths are now seeing more compliance with speed limits, and less deaths; fatalities on the stretches covered by this system, have decreased from 86 in 2011, to 38 by the end of 2012, and 21 at last count in October 2013. We are confident that more and more people will slow down on these stretches thereby substantially reducing their likelihoods of being involved in the horrific crashes that we have seen in the past,” said Minister Carlisle.

“In October this year, we launched the third phase of the ASOD system on the R27 on the West Coast, and in just over a month we can already see some positive trends emerging; percentage of vehicles travelling at speeds of between 120km/h – 130km/h (speed limit being 120km/h) has decreased from 15.9% in September 2013 (prior to the launch) to 10.8% in November 2013; percentage of vehicles travelling at speeds of between 130km/h – 140km/h has decreased from 7.0% in September 2013 to 3.4% in November 2013; and percentage of vehicles travelling in excess of 140km/h has also decreased from 4.1% in September 2013 to 1.9% in November 2013. The highest average speed recorded on the R27 ASOD was a staggering 180km/h,” added Carlisle.

“I would like to thank our Safely Home team, our Roads engineers and staff, the Director of Public Prosecutions, SANRAL, the City of Cape Town, and all our partners for bringing this project to fruition and for all the fantastic work that they do. Our goal was never to make money from fines. Our primary concern has always been to ensure that motorists will   safely at their destinations, particularly during this festive season when many holiday seekers will be travelling long distances to their holiday destinations. In their travels I urge them be vigilant about adhering to all road rules and particularly refraining from travelling at excessive speeds that threaten not only their safety, but that of other road users as well. We will be extending this network along the N1 and parts of the N2 in the near future. Roads are becoming increasingly dangerous, and slowing down is often the difference between life and death,” added Carlisle.

ASOD map and photographs courtesy of Safely Home