Friday 19th February 2010

Average Speed Cameras For Favourite Driving Road

Celebrated Cat and Fiddle route to suffer the scourge of the 'scamera'

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The Cat and Fiddle route, one of Britain’s most celebrated driving roads, is set to be neutered by average speed cameras.

The route, which runs between Buxton and Macclesfield on the A537 and A54, has long been a favourite route for enthusiastic drivers and riders alike. But now the road is set to be monitored by average speed cameras.

The road has already suffered a speed limit cut from the national 60mph limit down to 50mph, and now Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership, Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership and the Department for Transport are due to install seven average speed cameras along the 12-mile stretch of road.

Part of the problem, we’re told, is that the road has often been dubbed ‘Britain’s most dangerous road’ due to the high numbers of casualties along its length. In fact, EuroRAP, the European Road Assessment Programme that recently branded two thirds of the UK’s A-roads as dangerous, specifically identifies the Cat and Fiddle road as a serious problem.

We understand the need for road deaths and injuries to be minimised, but to sprinkle the Cat and Fiddle with SPECS cameras smacks a little bit of PR spin to us – after all the road is probably as close to having celebrity status as a stretch of public Tarmac can get.

And as for what the cameras will do for business at the Cat and Fiddle pub part-way along the road, known both as a Mecca for drivers and bikers as well as for being the second highest pub in England, we dread to think…

[Twincharged]

Funny thy've got a picture of a Motorbike on the sign, as they have no front registration plate...

I wish they could just use the cameras to give you your average speed and time for a fee; they'd probably make the same amount of money!

[Adrian W]

Never been fast in a car on that bit of road, now on my bike! tell me again how this will slow me down?

[Springbok]

How to blight a beauty spot in one easy lesson.

It won't work for bikers as they don't have front plates - or am I missing something?

Anyone for a oxy-acetyline tourch course?

[plasticpig]

The cameras are designed to take pictures of the rear number plate of the car or bike.

Anyone who has actually been to the Cat and Fiddle pub will know that it is also used by hikers, cyclists (road and mountain) as well as drivers and bikers. I doubt their trade is going to suffer all that much.

Edited by plasticpig on Friday 19th February 13:10

[alolympic]

If this really is the sign of things to come on A roads, this is a major blow to driving pleasure in the UK.

[G0ldfysh]

All the more reason to have a low fitted front plate that falls off easily

Mine was fitted for the mot and not been fitted since; will go back on again in couple of weeks for this years mot.

[jaik]

I'd like to know how the high casualty rate correlates to the high bike-to-car ratio on the road. I'd imagine rather well, it's never struck me as a particularly dangerous road for cars.

[robert_raw]

can still have fun at 50mph.

[C43]

surely this is going to make it more dangerous. you drive like f**k to the pub, stop and have a pint whilst your average speed drops down the you are free to push like f**k again....only for the second leg you are slightly drunk whilst going fast.

Some one needs to develop an app for the iphone which gives you average speed between two points. You don't have to slow down for long to get this well down.

[Gold]

HTH.

[muckyman]

maybe the cameras could get destroyed on a regular basis?
Obviously I'm referring to the nature of the terrain in that part of the world and the high chance of lightening strikes blowing the cameras apart, rather than motorists damaging them on purpose which would be illegal, anti-social and downright irresponsible.

;-)

Drive safe everyone!

Edited by muckyman on Friday 19th February 13:05

[Escort Si-130]

Fokkin government,bigfk off to speed cameras, burn the stting things and spray paint onthe lens and if they are too high,shoot them with a paintball gun.

In protest,drivers should enter the first camera, wait 2 mins, then rip the st out of the road,so then the average speed would not be that high.

[soad]

G0ldfysh said:

All the more reason to have a low fitted front plate that falls off easily

Mine was fitted for the mot and not been fitted since; will go back on again in couple of weeks for this years mot.

Damn right, or one of them 007 style numberplate-flip device jobbies!

[brutepower]

I assumed it is your average speed between any two of the 7 gates that was measured not overall time?

[mattviatura]

This was always going to happen.

[patmahe]

Would like to see the stats on accidents per 100 vehicles to see if this argument stacks up. I would also question whether speed alone is the cause of these accidents. As per usual it seems to be small minds unable to think of anything other than reducing speeds as if it is the sole cause of all accidents.

Why not encourage drivers and riders to act more responsibly rather than punish them for going over some arbitrary number. Some corners will be safe at speeds above the limit, and the same corners will be dangerous at other times, it depends on conditions, the cars capability, the drivers capabilty, visibility, rain, wind, traffic etc... and heres an idea why not put some human traffic police out there who can objectively judge the actions of people, something no camera can ever do.

[havoc]

They're really missing something here - it's the unsighted corners which are the problem, not the straights...

...and last time I was there, 50mph around some of those corners would be effing lethal!


Ah well...another nail in the coffin of 'driving'...and sadly the UK is probably better off (overall/on-average) than any of 'the colonies' and parts of Europe.

[SpydermanRS60]

That's why there's 7 of them - you'd have to stop between every pair to avoid the ticket - and there's only the one pub!

[Jag-D]

Overrated road anyway, too many dicks on there trying to prove themselves, just like Snake Pass

Shame though

[alexpa]

Just destroy the cameras. In this country we moan but just roll over and take it.
They tried to use these in Norway but they were trashed.

One mans militant is another's freedom fighter.

Honestly this country is now sick. We have a Stalinist government running a suffocating state.

Rebel, simple but effective.