Safe Speed Forums

Speeders not getting message
Published Date: 06 April 2010 By Charles Graham
More than 1,600 motorists have been caught speeding on a short stretch of Wigan motorway in a matter of weeks.
Despite glaringly obvious signs and bright yellow speed cameras at roadworks between Orrell and Standish, an average of 30 drivers a DAY have been hit with fines.

Road safety experts said today that the figures should serve as a warning to those who flout the law that they will be punished.

The cameras were installed by the Merseyside Safety Camera Partnership (which has jusrisdiction over the M6 at Wigan) while major repairs and improvements were taking place along the carriageway and verges.

They are dotted along the length of target areas and measure a motorist's average speed rather than taking a single snapshot as do most cameras on A and B roads.
And the partnership revealed today that between January 26 and March 22, no fewer than 1,665 detections were processed.
With £60 fines automatically issued for each infringement, that is just shy of £100,000 going into national Treasury coffers.

A spokesman for the partnership said: "It seems amazing that so many people should be caught speeding when the cameras' presence and the speed limits are so clear.
"But the measures are in place for everybody's safety, including those working on the motorways. We would ask people to drive particularly safely during roadworks because clearly the dangers are greater to everyone."

The roadworks that required the cameras in the first place involved bridge repairs, the installation of better lighting and the replacement of the steel barriers on the central reservation with concrete ones to reduce the risk of head-on collisions.

A spokesman for the partnership said: "It seems amazing that so many people should be caught speeding when the cameras' presence and the speed limits are so clear.
"But the measures are in place for everybody's safety, including those working on the motorways. We would ask people to drive particularly safely during roadworks because clearly the dangers are greater to everyone."

But as I've seen locally (M3 roadworks),the cameras remain even when there is no workforce or carraiageway obstruction in place. For whose safety are they working then?

Ah, you see, the layout was changed to be much safer, so the lowered limit and cameras are permanently needed, of course!

an average of 30 drivers a DAY have been hit with fines.