UK - Cambridgeshire blackspot set for new speed cameras

A number of speed cameras could soon be installed on a notoriously dangerous stretch of road in Cambridgeshire, according to reports.

Cambridgeshire County Council's cabinet is meeting next week to give its verdict on proposals for a system of average speed cameras along the Forty Foot Bank road, close to Chatteris.

Unlike regular speed cameras, these cameras will calculate the average speed of a driver along a certain stretch of road and have already met with success in a number of pilot schemes in Scotland over the past year.

The devices are said to be fairer to motorists and ensure that drivers concentrate on maintaining a law-abiding speed for the entire stretch of road rather than just at a particular point.

If the council gives the go-ahead for the new cameras when it convenes on December 19th, work on the devices could be up and running in the new year.

The proposals are for four sets of cameras to be set up along the 4.5 mile stretch from Doddington Road to the Forty Foot Bridge.

Forty Foot Bank road, which runs parallel with a river below, has been the site of many fatal accidents in recent times, prompting the council's investigation into measures to improve safety on the highway.

Councillor Mac McGuire, the lead member for highways at Cambridgeshire County Council, told the Cambridge Evening News: "It is quite clear that some motorists are prepared to drive at horrendous speeds along the Forty Foot without any consideration of other motorists or the consequences of their action.

"Our study, which is the culmination of many years' work and took into account the many suggestions made to us, showed that average speed cameras and driver education are the best solutions."

The council decided against the installation of barriers along the highway as it was thought that they would encourage motorists to drive faster and overtake more dangerously through providing them with a greater sense of security.

However, a spokesman for the Association of British Drivers recently told the BBC that average speed cameras could make roads in Britain more dangerous as motorists would be paying less attention to the cars around them and more on their average speed.

Last December, a man and his son drowned in a drainage ditch after their car clipped a barrier along the stretch of road, while three Portuguese factory workers were killed in January after their car plunged down the embankment.

It is thought that the camera project will cost around £300,000 to install, with much of the money coming from government funding.