Hundreds of motorists caught on Totnes road

The A385 is one of the most prolific for speeding in Devon

Over 800 penalties have been dished out for speeding on the main road in Totnes in the last three years.

That makes the A385 Ashburton Road the second most-prolific in the county, behind Plymouth's Alma Road - which issued more than 3,000.

Stats provided by Devon & Cornwall police also showed the number of offences of drivers caught doing over 100 miles an hour increased last year.

The camera on the A386 Alma Road in Plymouth was activated a total of 18,838 in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The road, despite being two lanes of dual carriageway, has a 30mph speed limit.

Over the three year period, the camera was activated once every 105 minutes, although the number of activations does also include emergency service vehicles.

The speed camera was also the one across Devon and Cornwall that issued the most Fixed Penalty Notices during the three year period. There were 3,116 issued, with other motorists caught breaking the speed limit either offered a speed awareness course or sent to court due to the severity of the offence.

A Freedom of Information Request to Devon and Cornwall Police also showed that speed cameras on the A385 Ashburton Road, Totnes, and the A30 Roseworthy Dip (East), Camborne, had high activation numbers.

The A385 Ashburton Road speed camera was activated 11,587 in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and saw 802 Fixed Penalty Notices issued, while the A30 Roseworthy Dip (East) camera was activated 8,032 times and issued 1,228 Fixed Penalty Notices.

Another FOI to the police also asked for the roads on which the top 10 highest recorded speeding offences took place.

The highest recorded speed was on the A30 at Victoria in Cornwall, in which a motorist was caught doing 126mph on the 70mph road.

Another motorist was caught doing 124mph on the A38 at Deep Lane in Plymouth, with speeds of over 120mph also recorded at the A30 Innis Downs and the A30 Launceston bypass.

The speed camera on the A30 at Roseworthy also caught someone driving at 123mph – more than double the 60mph speed limit.

Information provided by the force also revealed that in 2018, there were 293 speeding offences where motorists were caught doing over 100mph, an increase on the 258 in 2017.

The top 3 fixed position speed cameras that issued the most Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) in the combined period of 2016, 2017 and 2018 and the number of FPNs for each site.

• A386 Alma Road, Central Park, Plymouth – 3116 Fixed Penalty Notices
• A30 Roseworthy Dip (East), Camborne, Cornwall – 1228 Fixed Penalty Notices
• A385 Ashburton Road, Totnes, Devon – 802 Fixed Penalty Notices

The top 3 fixed position speed cameras that were activated the most in the combined period of 2016, 2017 and 2018 and the number of activations for each site.

• A386 Alma Road, Central Park, Plymouth – 18838 total activations*
• A385 Ashburton Road, Totnes, Devon – 11587 total activations*
• A30 Roseworthy Dip (East), Camborne, Cornwall – 8032 total activations*