MOTORING groups have questioned the value of speed cameras after police figures revealed that only one in 20 collisions last year was caused by a driver breaking the speed limit.

The most common cause of accidents was failing to look properly, a factor in 32 per cent of crashes, followed by failing to judge another vehicle’s speed (18 per cent) and driving carelessly or recklessly (16 per cent). The figures, published by the Department for Transport, contradicted claims by speed camera supporters that speed is a factor in one third of collisions.

Travelling too fast for the conditions was a factor in 12 per cent of all crashes last year, but none of these involved drivers breaking the speed limit.

Speed was, however, more likely to be a factor in more serious crashes. About 12 per cent of fatal collisions involved a driver breaking the speed limit. A further 17 per cent of crashes in which someone died involved a driver travelling within the limit, but too fast for the conditions.

Eight times more men than women involved in crashes had broken the speed limit. Drivers aged 17 to 19 were more likely than any other age group to cause a crash while speeding.

The RAC Foundation said that information on the causes of collisions, which police began recording only last year, indicated that speed cameras could address only a small part of the road safety problem.

More than 1.9 million speed camera fines were issued in 2004, up from 340,000 in 1997.

Edmund King, the foundation’s director, said: “We support speed cameras, but there has been an overemphasis on speed as the cause of accidents. Other factors not detected by cameras have been neglected, such as drink and drug-driving, being distracted by mobiles or sat-navs and drivers generally being too impatient.

“We need to look at improving driving skills and increasing the number of traffic officers if we are to get road deaths back on a downward trend.”

The number of road deaths fell by less than 1 per cent last year, to 3,201. The number of traffic police in England and Wales declined by 11 per cent between 1996 and 2001, the last year for which figures were available.

There were 560 deaths last year in collisions involving a driver over the alcohol limit, down from 580 in 2004, but still 100 above the figure recorded in both 1998 and 1999.

The decline in the number of traffic police meant that fewer breath tests were carried out, down from 816,000 in 1998 to 578,000 in 2004.

The report also showed that children who walked or cycled to school were much more likely to be killed or seriously hurt than those taken by car. Of the 597 deaths and serious injuries, 471 were on foot, 56 were on bicycles and 34 were in cars.

Brake, the road safety charity, said that Britain had one of the best overall road safety records, but it was marred by the high child pedestrian death rate, which was seven times higher than Finland and three times higher than Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy.

Jools Townsend, director of community campaigns at Brake, said: “The Government has a responsibility to ensure that routes between homes and schools are safe for children on foot and bicycles to enable children to use these healthy and environmentally friendly methods of travel.”

A total of 141 children were killed on the roads last year — 25 fewer than in 2004.

The number of people seriously injured last year fell by 7 per cent to 28,954. Total casualties — deaths, serious injuries and slight injuries — fell 3 per cent last year to 271,017.