The value of speeding fines dished out to Tayside drivers has almost doubled in just two years, the Tele can reveal.
New figures show that at least £477,720 was raked in from penalties in 2012/13 — but that nearly doubled to at least £876,300 in 2014/15.
The rise came after a change in the lowest fine of £60 shooting up to £100 in August 2013.
The number of folk caught speeding also rose significantly between last year and the year before.
In total, at least £1.7 million has been raised from speeding fines in Tayside in the last three years.
Claire Armstrong, founder of Safe Speed, labelled the income generated by the cameras as “despicable”.
She said: “It is farcical, as these fines are disproportionate to the apparent crime.
“There is absolutely nothing about a speed camera that can reduce accidents. It might make someone drive at a slower speed but they don’t stop actual accidents from happening.
“It is despicable that they have raised £1.7m.”
Between April 2012 and the end of March 2015, 23,852 drivers were snared by fixed cameras, mobile cameras and the newly installed average speed devices on the A9.
And, due to an increase in the nominal value of a fixed penalty notice, HM Treasury is raking in more money than before.
The number of people caught in Tayside dropped in 2013/14 by 10% but rose last year by 22%.
Arron Duncan, manager of the Tayside Safety Camera Partnership, said the rise was mainly due to a larger workforce.
He said: “It’s disappointing that there are high numbers of people exceeding the speed limit. There is no reason why anyone should make the conscious decision to speed but the increase that we see in the table is due to a couple of things.
“In 2013/14, we were a camera enforcement officer down for part of the year, which meant we were 25% down on staff in that year, and there was a rise in 2014/15 because of the start of the average speed cameras on the A9.
“We now don’t need to deploy vans on the A9, so they are instead being used on stretches of other roads where people are taking more of a risk with their speeds.”
And he insisted: “The roads are safer now. The impact of the average speed cameras has been massive.
“It’ll hopefully impact positively on the A90 between Perth and Dundee and then north up to Stracathro.”