SPEED camera chiefs celebrated their tenth birthday with figures showing road deaths and injuries fell by at least a third in the last decade.

They said the figures showed cameras, roadside police checks and courses for speeding drivers had had an affect.

Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership was established ten years ago to manage cameras.

Cameras have proved controversial with campaigners arguing they place too much focus on speed at the expense of other dangers.

There are also concerns that cameras only enforce the immediate area and not stretches of dangerous road.

And deaths rose between 17 to 23 from 2008 to last year, the figures for which were released this week.

But this was down from 33 in 2000 – a drop of 30 per cent.

Those killed or seriously injured fell from 396 in 2000 to 242 in 2009, a drop of 39 per cent. But these rose from 220 in 2008.

The total number of people involved in collisions fell from 2,884 to 1,960 from 2000, a drop of 32 per cent.

The largest proportion of people involved in collisions were aged 16 to 24. Eight per cent were aged 65 and over.

Richard Owen, operations manager for the safety partnership, hailed the figures, released by The Department for Transport.

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He said: “There are many things that are contributing to safer roads, things like better road and vehicle design should certainly not be overlooked, but we have seen a cultural shift in the speeds that people drive at particularly in our towns and cities.

“The role of enforcement and education has undoubtedly changed the way we use the roads and made them safer for local communities.”

The partnership said cameras, awareness courses for those caught speeding or using a mobile phone and police enforcement had driven down collisions.

More drivers were choosing courses of penalty points, it said.

It has also run education campaigns such as a ‘pimp my coffin’ poster showing a casket made to look like a customised ‘boy racer’ car, spoofing the ‘Pimp My Ride’ television programme.

Thames Valley Police’s Claire Benson said: “Our aim is to educate rather than alienate drivers and therefore allow them to have a better understanding of why and how their direct actions behind the wheel can affect the safety of themselves and others.”

Council bosses who part-fund the partnership recently said they wanted more focus on changes to road layouts and education rather than cameras.

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