Tuesday 16th October 2007

Preston's Golden Mile

Camera bags £300,000 in speeding fines, £4,000 per day

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A Preston road dubbed the city's very own 'Golden Mile' has generated nearly £300,000 worth of speeding fines in just two-and-a-half months.

Almost 5,000 motorists have been snared by four speed cameras on the two-mile stretch of the A583 in just 75 days.

The temporary cameras near roadworks at Riversway have zapped 4,930 drivers since they were installed in July.

The fines will go straight to central government coffers rather than to Lancashire County Council, which is carrying out the maintenance work on the road.

Now questions have been raised about the number of fines dished out for just one road when around 100,000 people received tickets across the whole of Lancashire in 2005-6.

The RAC Foundation said the cameras are important to prevent accidents with the road workers but pointed out that because of the large numbers of drivers getting tickets the cameras were not being signposted properly.

A spokesman for the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety, which operates the cameras, said they were there to protect roadside workers and motorists and while admitting that nearly 5,000 drivers had been detected, the number was just 0.2% of vehicles which had gone through the area.

[robbyt]

Road workers never needed speed cameras to protect them years ago so why do they now....SCAM SCAM SCAM

[roosevelt]

If the CC got the money it might not take 75days to complete the roadworks!!

[roosevelt]

at 0.2% thats 2,500,000 cars in the 75 days or 33,333 cars a day....!

[chrisbr68]

Total boocks! How does taking your concentration away from looking outside the car make it safer?

Have you ever tried to change lanes on a motorway while going past a speed camera? I bet you wouldnt do it... why? Because you have to look inside the car and not outside... you cant concentrate on your surroundings enough... good road policiy

Edited by chrisbr68 on Tuesday 16th October 12:10

[Linus27]

How can they be there to protect the workers and the motorist? If they have caught that many people speeding past the camera then the system is clearly not working. Plus, they take a photo of somebody speeding and they still crash into the workers. Thats not protecting them. SCAM SCAM SCAM.

[Lostusernamedamn]

Did any one of those drivers caught "endanger" anyone in any way? I doubt it.

Did anyone of the drivers not caught endanger anyone in any way? Maybe, if they were more conscious of their speedo, but the main point is that concentration is far more important than actual speed and the appropriate speed at any one time varies continuously.

Another typical example of this government's style of revenue raising, clothed in something that pretends to be for the good when the reality is quite different.

[julianc]

I live near the roadworks (actually bridgeworks) and the way they have been set up is IMHO ridiculous. Lane closures and 30mph in a normally 50mph limit for more than half a mile from the bridgeworks, and the westbound carriageway continues to have a 30mph limit for half a mile after the bridgeworks even though both lanes are free from cones and indeed the opposite carriageway has the adjacent lane coned off. All causing significant congestion.

A scumera paradise and IMHO way over the top from a 'safety' perspective.

[Neezer]

Well I live quite near to these set of cameras, the 'road works' in question are a series of bridge repairs. The thing is, this road was a DC and now a lane is randomly coned off and the limit reduced to 30mph (from 50) at least a mile before any of the bridge work. This road was congested enough before the lane closure, and the 30mph limit is just a kick in the teeth. I must also point out that at no time when i've driven along this road (during working hours or otherwise) has there actually been any workers present anywhere near the carriageway. So I think you can imagine mine and other motorists frustration at this sorry state of affairs. In fact only once have I seen them doing any work whatsoever, and it's quite rural as well so no noise issues. That is however a totally different topic.

Having said that, they are only standard GATSO'S so the 'intelligent' motorist can just speed up between them and slow down as required (traffic allowing), and they are VERY visible, so you'd have to be pretty inept to get caught by them. Therefore people are clearly not paying any attention to their surroundings, so more fool them. I find it quite worrying really.. Oh and I haven't been caught by them, before you ask

[AL666]

The speed cameras down that road are appaling, but the showers make up for it.

[uejits]

one good american idea is the concept of DOUBLING the penalty if you speed on a road where workers are at work. that just might get the message across to the ones who just arent bothered about workmen safety.

[Mr Whippy]

roosevelt said:

at 0.2% thats 2,500,000 cars in the 75 days or 33,333 cars a day....!

A car every 2.59 seconds over a 24hr period, uber busy road!

Dave

[pd86]

ha any excuse eh, i live there and can easily believe the figures stated here. then you have to think about other roads such as the a6 again covered in cameras. if all the 'revenue' was put back into the system im sure we would have the finest roads in the land and buses that actually run near to where you live rant, rant, rant....

[ajc9664]

I live about 1 mile from these roadworks and have to admit they are a pain in the a45e.

If the cameras are only there to protect road workers, why are they on 24hours a day, 7days a week?

I'd like to see a histogram of number of tickets vs time of day!

And why has it taken 4 months to paint 2 bridges?

Grrr....

[cowellsj]

robbyt said:

Road workers never needed speed cameras to protect them years ago so why do they now....SCAM SCAM SCAM

lots of other things were different years ago too.
like not much traffic about, no idea what H&S is etc etc.

it's not pleasant when you're working close to fast moving traffic, especially given that most people to some degree simply ignore the temporary restrictions.

[Zoom_Jones]

PNE and Blackpool have always been bitter footballing rivals. Now it seems with a few more fairy lights Preston's new Golden Mile could become as much of scam to local law abiding tax payers as the original one.

[derestrictor]

Lancashire Scamera Partnerships? No member therein ever having been laid, the villainous chimps.

These morons literally rustle in the shrubbery on the border of GMP territory, exciting themselves into a frenzied contemplation of shooting their photographic loads at the first sign of the faintest transgressor.

Partnerships: disingenuous, cowardly no marks, one and all.

[PJS917]

I have just driven through them about 20 mins ago, no workers to be seen. So
at this time what exactly are the cameras protecting?

[Zoom_Jones]

PJS917 said:

I have just driven through them about 20 mins ago, no workers to be seen. So
at this time what exactly are the cameras protecting?

Their auras of course.

[Double R]

but then if SC are there to PROTECT road workers why so many are caught? so if there is a risk, then this risk is not highlighted properly for the motorists considering the high amount of fines. If there is a limited amount if fines then one would say that SC are doing their job slowing down drivers.

So better to cash in while risking the lives of the road workers then?

odd...

[zeb]

I live a few miles from there too and as far as i can see this bridge is for the farmer to get his cows to the other side of the road...not exactly arterial is it?