Speed check route set to be extended

ANEW average speed camera route between Southport and Preston is set to be extended, as part of a scheme targeting accident blackspots.

Cameras have already been installed along the Tarleton Bypass, on the A565 Southport New Road between the B5246 at Mere Brow and the Gravel Lane roundabout at Banks.

Testing and configuration of these cameras will now be put on hold to allow for the extension of the route.

Dates for extension work have not yet been set.

The route is one of eight accident blackspots in the county being targeted by police and Lancashire Road Safety Partnership.

In the past six years, 13 people have died on these roads. There have also been 406 casualties, with 62 people suffering serious or life-changing injuries since 2011.

The new cameras are designed to make car journeys safer by using number plate recognition technology to detect vehicles and calculate their average speed.

Drivers caught driving too fast face £100 fixed penalty notices plus three points on their driving licences, with those guilty of higher speeds being summoned to court.

Readers were outraged when the Tarleton Bypass move was first reported.

One comment on Visiter.co.uk said: “This has nothing whatsoever to do with safety, but everything to do with making money. The stretch being covered has recorded one accident in the last 10 years, which was a pedestrian misjudging traffic speeds whilst attempting to cross the carriageway at the Riverside.

“Move up the road a few hundred yards to where there is a crossing from Mere Brow, and there are usually a couple of accidents per week, yet this is not being covered by cameras.

“As stated, this is simply to make as much money as possible, and nothing to do with ‘safety’.“

Another reader said: “Safety’ what an utter joke. This is 100% a money spin.

“Why not put cameras up where the limit is already 50? All this is going to do is make it longer for me to get home when it’s sunny.”

The cameras work by measuring the time taken to travel between fixed points of a known distance apart.

Average Speed Check signage along the route will be used to inform drivers that they are entering an average speed control zone.

Lancashire police will release further information before the average speed cameras go live.

Lancashire Constabulary’s Assistant Chief Constable, Tim Jacques, said: “Our primary aim is for all drivers to adhere to the speed limit on our roads, therefore reducing the risk of collisions and making our roads safer for all to use.

“It is well documented that speeding does kill, but we know a combination of education, enforcement and engineering solutions can save lives and reduce the number of people seriously injured on the county’s roads.”