One of Britain’s most lucrative speed cameras has clocked up a whopping £1.6million – on a road which has had just ONE serious crash, it emerged today.
The device on New Road in Worcester caught 22,942 drivers between 2004 and 2012 – 2,867 every year or around eight every day.
All of the speeding motorists – who broke the 30mph limit – accepted the conditional offer a fixed £60 penalty – giving the Government a cash injection of £1,376,520.
Another 3,049 drivers have completed the £85 speed awareness course after being caught by the flashing Gatso – leading to further cash boost of £259,165.
The total amount raised by the camera is £1,635,685.
Bizarrely, the road is one of the safest in Worcestershire with just one person suffering serious injuries since 2004.
All fines and fixed penalties paid into the courts are transferred immediately to central Government.
Motorists reacted angrily to news the camera had raked in so much money.
One driver, Stewart Williams, 28, from Worcester, said: “The cameras are purely about greed.
“Speed humps are the best way to slow down drivers and prevent crashes.
“So if road safety was really at the heart of the issue then you would see more speed humps.
“But they don’t generate money so instead you see cameras all over the place acting as a way to generate easy money for the Government.”
Another motorist, Sue Bishop, 45, added: “No pedestrians try to cross three lanes of busy traffic on New Road.
“It’s not about safety, it is about raking in millions of pounds.
“People slow down for the cameras and then speed up as soon as they’re out of range.
“They’re totally pointless. The sooner they get rid of them and think of a proper way to solve road safety issues the better.”
The New Road camera is one of 55 mobile and static devices in Worcestershire.
Leaders from the Safer Roads Partnership in West Mercia said the cameras are not about money but are placed at sites where there is a real concern about speeding.
Defending the cameras, Helen Roberts, a business analyst for the Safer Roads Partnership, which is in charge of the cameras, said: “Between 1994 and 2004, 11 people have been killed or seriously injured, nine on New Road.
“Since installation of the camera this has decreased to one collision of the same category and 15 people have been involved in collisions and sustained slight injuries.
“The severity has decreased, because the speeds of vehicles have decreased, showing that the camera is saving lives.”
Vicki Bristow, communications manager for the Safer Roads Partnership, added: “Cameras are there for one clear purpose, to reduce speeds and in turn reduce collisions and reduce the amount of people killed or injured.
“The camera on New Road is doing its job and is continuing to help reduce the speeds and collisions on a very busy city link road and will continue to do so.”
* In 2011, Britain’s most profitable speed camera was revealed as a temporary device on the southbound A1 between junctions four and five.
The camera snapped an average of 789 drivers a month and figures obtained through the Freedom of Information Act revealed it earns around £568,000 a year.