Speed cameras may actually create bad driving, according to an analysis of more than 8,800 car journeys in the United Kingdom.

The study by a company called Wunelli, which helps car insurers offer telematics-based insurance policies, shows that the number of ‘hard braking events’ at speed camera locations is an average of six times higher than elsewhere.

A hard braking event is defined in this analysis as a decrease in speed of 6.5mph or more over a one-second time period – abrupt enough to send bags placed on seats tumbling into the footwell.

An expert at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which owns Wunelli, said: “We have collected over a billion miles of driving behaviour data, and our analysis has provided some extremely important insights. We are building upon these insights to show the potentially dangerous effects of certain speed deterrents on driving behaviour as speeding drivers take erratic measures, such as braking harshly, to avoid being penalised. This supports the theory of accidents being ‘wake up calls’ to drivers to take more care and proof that a carrot rather than a stick approach works in improving driving behaviour.”