Safe Speed Forums

Fewer speeding drivers caught in Leatherhead

Friday, October 07, 2011
Profile image for Leatherhead Advertiser

A SPEED camera is catching fewer motorists every year – but countless drivers still break the limit, the Advertiser can reveal.
Figures obtained using the Freedom of Information Act show the camera on the A24 at Mickleham issued fines to almost 3,000 speeding drivers in 2006, compared to just 459 last year.

Surrey County Council said the fact that fewer motorists are being caught speeding is "encouraging", but the Advertiser took its own speed recorder to the road and found the 50mph limit being broken almost twice every minute.
Using a portable speed recorder, we found 116 drivers in one hour were breaking the limit by 5mph or more – just 200 yards on from the camera.

Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford said: "It does worry me that there are people doing it, but we are aware that people come round those bends and slow down and then speed up again.
"We have always had trouble with speeding on the A24. The limit has been set at 50mph for a reason and to go any faster is silly.
"The fact remains that the numbers of bad accidents on these bends has dropped dramatically over the last few years."

Karen Edwards, of London Road, Westhumble, said: "I'm not overly concerned whether there is a speed camera or not.
"People speed up and slow down all the time so a camera won't make any difference. What does need to be sorted out is the idiotic motorcyclists who use that stretch of road like it is a race track."

Of the 116 motorists caught speeding by the Advertiser, 57 were driving more than 10mph over the limit and one was driving at 81mph.

Adrian Creek, of the Surrey Safety Camera Partnership, said: "Part of the reason we sometimes have mobile enforcement just around the corner is to stop this.
"Drivers who speed up after the fixed camera on Mickleham bends always face the risk of being caught by one of our mobile units.
"A quick snapshot might show people are continuing to speed, but overall trends over a number of years through our speed surveys show that average speeds have fallen quite sharply since the camera was first installed.
"This is backed up by the fall in casualties and the number of tickets issued."

Speaking about the reduction in the number of fines issued, Surrey County Council road safety team manager Duncan Knox said: "The encouraging thing for us is that this data shows that the cameras are clearly doing the job they are put there to do – acting as a deterrent to speeding drivers."