Police remind all motorists to drive safely through M1 road works
- 28th June 2010
Bedfordshire Police are advising drivers to slow down and respect the reduced speed limit of 50 mph on the M1 through the road works between junctions 10 and 13, which are in place while the Highways Agency delivers the Managed Motorways scheme.
Average speed cameras are monitoring traffic speeds and enforcing the speed limit through the section of road works to deter speeding, but those drivers who exceed the speed limit will be penalised.
Hazel Robertson, Casualty Reduction Manager for Bedfordshire Police said: ‘Most people are driving with care and consideration through the road works and respecting the speed limit, which is there to protect all road users. The average speed of traffic is 45 mph. We are, however, concerned that some people are driving at excessive speed and putting themselves, other road users and road workers at risk. Vehicles have been recorded travelling at average speeds of up to 90 mph. These are not cases of momentary or inadvertent speeding but of drivers deliberately choosing to ignore the limit with no regard for the law or safety.’
Andy Hitch, Highways Agency project manager, said: ‘We’re pleased to see most road users are driving responsibly through the road works. We would remind people that the 50mph limit is there for the safety of all road users, and not solely to protect road workers, while the road space is restricted. These restrictions are continuously monitored and although work taking place is not always apparent to the road user, the driving environment around the road works is different from normal so we ask all road users to keep within the limit.
‘Once completed the Managed Motorways with hard shoulder running scheme, will reduce congestion, make journey times more reliable and improve safety.’
The speed cameras are mounted on gantries and use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to identify vehicles passing at speed. The average speed of a vehicle is calculated by measuring the time it takes to travel between the gantries. Drivers detected speeding will receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution. They may be eligible to attend a speed awareness course; take a fixed penalty of £60 and three penalty points on their licence; or be referred to court.
Average speed cameras will be used to enforce the temporary speed limit of 50 mph for the duration of the road works which are scheduled to be completed in 2013.
