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Cameras catch thousands in South Devon

Tuesday, 6 August 2019 07:15

By Daniel Clark, Local Democracy Reporting Service

The new average speed cameras went live in February

More than 2,500 motorists were caught speeding in the first 100 days of speed cameras being operation on the South Devon Highway.

Over 500 motorists were caught in the first week of the cameras going live on February 21 – more than in the previous 39 months combined – a Freedom of Information Request has revealed.

The data showed that from the date they were turned on until the end of May – a 99 day period – 2,579 offences were detected and speeding tickets issued on the road that runs between Newton Abbot and Torquay.

The FOI to the Devon and Cornwall Police showed that in the previous 39 months since the new £110m road opened in December 2015, only 461 people had been caught speeding, an average of one motorist every 2.7 days.

But in the first seven days after the cameras were switched on, an eye-watering 511 motorists were caught – an average of 73 a day.

And in total, 2,579 offences were detected until the end of May, the date on which the information was provided up until, an average of 26 a day.

The Freedom of Information request also revealed that the fastest speed recorded by a vehicle on the 50mph road was 100mph.

When discussing the introduction of average speed cameras on the road, councillors were told they would reduce traffic speeds and help enforce the 50mph speed limit between Edginswell and Penn Inn, with the latest speed data showing the 85th percentile speed to be 62.8mph and the mean speed to be 54.2mph.

The report to the cabinet, who approved the £285,000 finance for the scheme last Autumn, added that proposals to install Average Speed Cameras on the A380 South Devon Highway were supported by Devon and Cornwall Police and the Devon and Cornwall Safety Camera Partnership, and that enforcement would be beneficial in reducing the traffic speeds on the dual carriageway.

Cllr Alistair Dewhirst, Local County Councillor for Kingskerswell, who has been calling for the cameras since the road opened in 2015, at the time said: “Obviously the new South Devon Highway is a road that affected the lives of hundreds of lives of people in South Devon for the better. But some people’s lives have been blighted since the new road opened as their houses are next to the road.

“The noise and pollution from the road is horrendous and it has a 50mph speed limit, but everyone ignores it. The main thing needed is the average speed cameras, and I really welcome this and my residents really welcome this and looking for a good night’s sleep.

“It needs to be remembered why we have a 50mph speed limit on the road – it is for the amenity of those local residents.”

Cllr Gordon Hook added “The sooner we get this the better, and I hope we can move on rapidly. They are a success around the country and the evidence is crystal clear that vehicles slow down and adhere to whatever is being asked of them by the cameras.”

Other alternative options had been considered, but Average Speed Cameras were considered to be the most efficient way in enforcing the 50mph speed limit along the South Devon Highway.

It comes as Devon County Council has confirmed that the number of properties eligible for Part 1 claims –  residents whose homes have ‘reduced in value’ since the construction of the South Devon Highway – has risen from 159 to 270.

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