Most dangerous road in Britain to get speed cameras

[Spacecadet]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/8516133.stm

A section of road, dubbed the most dangerous in Britain, is to be monitored with average speed cameras. There have been 264 casualties on the Cat and Fiddle road - the A537 between Macclesfield and Buxton - since 2001.
Of those killed or seriously injured, 70% were motorcyclists, Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership said.
Work to install seven cameras, which will record the average speed of vehicles on the 50mph road, is due to begin this week.
The Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership said the road, which links Cheshire and Derbyshire, is consistently identified by independent surveys as the most dangerous in Britain.

The Road Safety Foundation pinpointed the road as the country's most dangerous in a survey in 2008.
Lee Murphy, manager of Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership, said: "We want all road users to come and enjoy this scenic route responsibly and lawfully.
"Unfortunately, a minority of riders treat the road with a racetrack mentality - we have recorded bikers riding at speeds of 130mph.
"This is not a knee-jerk reaction because we have tried all other measures.
"Short of closing the road, we couldn't see any viable alternatives to the average speed cameras to reduce the number of casualties along the Cat and Fiddle."
The cameras are expected to be in use by the end of March. They have been designed to minimize the impact on the landscape.

Correct me if I'm wrong but average speed camera's look at forward facing number plates... which motorbikes don't have.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/8516133.stm



Correct me if I'm wrong but average speed camera's[sic] look at forward facing number plates... which motorbikes don't have.

I bet they have thought of that - probably turned them (the cameras) round.

EDIT - BTW - I object to roads of this nature being called dangerous - it isn't the road that's dangerous, it's the twats who can't ride properly.

[VectraMan]

Surely it would be better just to ban motorcyclists.

[ratewhore]

...it's the twats who can't ride properly.

...and the riders in groups, trying to keep up and going over their skill threshold, and the farmers spreading sh1t everywhere.

I could go on, it's a dangerous road for many reasons and I wouldn't take my bike up there...

[Spacecadet]

Ahh MCN has the answers, from almost 12 months ago...

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ne...?&R=EPI-107407

BBC up to date news with its news coverage as always

[EternalOptimist]

Top tip for bikers.

Drive up to the cat and fiddle with a picnic. Find a nice spot just past the first camera and pull over for a snack and a few pints. Pack up and blast along at a ton then head off home.
hey presto, you can fool those average speed cameras and STILL get yourself killed before teatime

[Bagpuss]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/8516133.stm



Correct me if I'm wrong but average speed camera's look at forward facing number plates... which motorbikes don't have.

I've seen some kamikaze manoeuvres on that road. Most of the time by cars rather than bikes.

Never used to be 50mph either

[neil987]

Is it just me, but I can never understand why, if the road is so dangerous, they never seem to do anything to make the road safer i.e. straighten some of the bad bends etc out by buying some of the land beside the road. Surely safety comes before money???

But then again, that costs money where a camera from the local safety partnership brings money in.

I am sure that when the new dual carriageway was built from the North Circular down to the A13 ? in London a few years ago, it had all the latest safety features in the design, was built below the level of the streets around it and had no way for pedestrians to cross it at road level (there were a few bridges) yet a speed camera (sorry safety camera) was installed before it opened. There's me thinking they were put in places where there had been fata accidents!!!

[Bagpuss]

It's pretty hard to straighten out a road that has a rockface on one side and a hhhhuge drop on the other. That, and where you could, you would have to carve a path of Tarmac through the peak district national park.

[AtW]

It's pretty hard to straighten out a road that has a rockface on one side and a hhhhuge drop on the other.

And you call yourself British? Puss!