A6 Bypass Doesn’t Warrant Speed Cameras, Say Highway Bosses

Police speed checks on the A6 bypass

Highway bosses say speed cameras won’t be installed on the A6 bypass between Great Glen and Kibworth, despite repeated calls for the safety measure.

Leicestershire County Council say the stretch doesn’t meet government guidelines for fixed cameras, because a week-long speed survey, carried out in January, found just 2.6% of drivers were travelling over 70mph.

Police speed checks have routinely caught people going at very high speeds, with officers dubbing it ‘a racetrack’.

The Council survey found out of 49,382 vehicles passing the survey site from 11am on 15 January to 9am on 22 January northbound, 1,283 were above the speed limit and travelling southbound – out of 52,801 vehicles passing the survey site, 331 were travelling above the speed limit.

Harborough Council Leader Phil King has been calling for speed cameras to be installed and gave his reaction to Hfm:

Councillor Trevor Pendleton, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The county council works in partnership with the police as part of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Road Safety Partnership to reduce the number of people killed and injured on the road network.

“At present, the stretch of the A6 between Great Glen and Kibworth does not meet Government guidelines for a fixed camera. That’s frustrating, but these are the rules under which we operate.

“Following a survey carried out in January 2020,  we found that the majority of motorists using this route do comply with the existing speed limit. Unfortunately, as recent police reports show, there is a stubborn minority who disregard the speed limit, endangering the lives of road users. However, as Sunday has shown, the police are enforcing these restrictions and catching motorists who flout the law.

“Any new camera sites will be put forward in compliance with police speed enforcement criteria and we are assessing the data from our average speed camera trials as to whether the scheme can be rolled out to other sites in Leicestershire,  but this is dependent on HM Treasury changing their policy to allow fines to be retained locally to pay for the rollout of new speed cameras for those communities in Leicestershire who are clamouring for action.”