Today, there are about 2,000 speed cameras and together they have caught about 300,000 speeders per year in the last three years - 145,000 in six months is therefore more or less according to forecast.

A camera in Gothenburg so far tops this year's list with the most speeders in the picture - more precisely 4,239 on the section Bräckemotet - Eriksbergsmotet. Silver and bronze places take cameras in Stockholm on the routes Norra- and Södra länken, with 3,921 and 3,253 images respectively.

So many drive too fast

But the number of speeders is not important, says Eva Lundberg, national coordinator of traffic safety cameras at the Swedish Transport Administration.

- We do not think that the number of registered speeding violations is interesting, the purpose of the traffic safety cameras is to save lives and reduce the number of seriously injured.

When the Swedish Transport Administration places new cameras, they choose distances where the average speed is more than five kilometers per hour above the sign speed and the estimated accident risk is high. This means that they mainly choose 70, 80 and 90 roads without a center railing.

- What we follow is speed compliance at the cameras and only five percent drive faster than the current speed limit, says Eva Lundberg.

Saves 20-30 lives

According to the police, about 40 percent of the cases they receive via cameras lead to someone being prosecuted for the crime. The fact that not everyone who is caught in a picture is prosecuted is usually due to the fact that weather conditions make the pictures blurry.

- We are quite happy with the figure. The aim is not to take as many speeders as possible, but the purpose is to save lives. The cameras help to reduce speeds, which leads to fewer deaths and serious injuries in traffic, says Maria Kleemo, group manager and head of preliminary investigation at the police unit for automated traffic safety control, ATK.

Since the business with speed cameras started within the police in 2006, the statistics have spoken their clear language.

- Once we have established cameras on a stretch, we see that the number of deaths and serious injuries in traffic decreases, says Maria Kleemo.

The traffic safety cameras save about 20-30 lives per year and reduce the number of seriously injured in traffic by about 30 percent, according to the Police and the Swedish Transport Administration.