Support for speed cameras is lowest among drivers in the North East, according to Public Opinions of Speed Cameras, the latest research report from road safety charity the IAM. 

The survey of nearly 1,000 respondents shows a 67 per cent approval rating for cameras in the North East, compared to a Great Britain average of 79 per cent. The most supportive region is London with an 85 per cent approval rating. 

Nationally, 70 per cent of motorists agree that speed awareness courses are a better idea than prosecution or fines (63 per cent in the North East). Despite their doubts about cameras, the North East's drivers are most in favour of proposals to pay for operating cameras using income from speed awareness courses. Sixty-three per cent of drivers support the idea compared to an average Great Britain rating of 48 per cent.  The least supportive region for this is Wales with 28 per cent. 

Less than a third of Britain's motorists think that speed cameras are used at sites with a bad record of crashes and injuries, and 50 per cent think that raising money is their primary motive (20 per cent did not express an opinion either way). In the North East 35 per cent think that speed cameras are related to raising money. Londoners are the group least likely to think that revenue-raising is the primary aim of speed cameras.  

Eighty-one per cent of all respondents think that speed cameras contributed to falling road death rates over the past decade and nearly half of all respondents think that road deaths and serious injuries would increase if cameras were turned off.  

IAM director of policy and research Neil Greig said: "While lower than elsewhere, support for speed cameras in the North East is still high, as is support for speed awareness training.  

"Prosecuting and fining drivers does not improve driving skills or awareness of the hazards that come with speed. Training would reduce the number of casualties and prosecutions. That so many drivers want training is very positive. 

"While most motorists want speed limits to be enforced, many continue to believe the motivation for speed cameras is to make money. In times of cut-backs to police budgets, speed cameras are an essential part of the policing toolkit, but it's clear that the public need reassuring about their purpose and future funding."