Average Speed Over Distance Saving Lives

The activation of Average Speed Over Distance (ASOD) speed enforcement on the R61 between Aberdeen and Beaufort West has once again demonstrated the link between higher speeds and more road deaths: as motorists have slowed down, the death rate has plummeted.

The Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works’ Safely Home road safety programme ends its August 2014 focus on speed on Sunday, after a month of informing various target audiences about the danger of speeding.

According to the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Donald Grant the departmental analysis shows a marked decrease in the speed profile of the road and a dramatic decrease in the number of fatalities.

Minister Grant said ASOD had in addition a calming effect in the sections adjacent to the ASOD intervention. He said only four fatalities occurred since the activation of ASOD in 2011 and none of those deaths involved minibuses.

Table below illustrates reduction of fatalities on R61:

Minister Grant says his department will continue monitoring the accident rates on roads where ASOD has been activated.

“ASOD was activated during the last 18 months on parts of the N7 and on the N1 between Laingsburg and Beaufort West. We are looking forward to what kind of results ASOD will yield on those roads,” Minister Grant said.

How it Works

• The 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 is determined by the distance and the speed limit means that the driver has been speeding.

View Safely Home's ASOD map.