Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

1,800 drivers caught in just three months by A9 average speed cameras

New technology could be set to improve tourism and connectivity on the A9
New technology could be set to improve tourism and connectivity on the A9

 

MORE than 1,800 motorists have been caught speeding through 40mph roadworks on the notorious A9 in just three months.

And the figure could have been far higher – had cameras not been switched off for nearly six months after work on dualling the north’s busiest road started.

Upgrading the Dalraddy-Kincraig stretch got underway in September and new average-speed cameras were brought in to enforce a 40mph limit.

Figures released to the Press and Journal show that 1,883 speeding offences were detected in the five-mile stretch between March 1 and May 31 this year.

Of these, 1,605 were dealt with by fixed penalties, while 138 drivers were reported to the procurator fiscal for possible prosecution.

No further action was taken in relation to 140 offences, including cases where the driver could not be identified.

It also emerged that the speed cameras were not activated until March 1 – because of issues with supplying power to the devices and other technical problems.

Campaigners blamed the “ludicrous” situation of having a 40mph speed limit within a separate 60mph average-speed camera zone for the high figures.

Arron Duncan, North Safety Camera Unit manager, said it was “disappointing” a “significant” number of motorists were caught speeding but added the total represented about 0.5% of vehicles travelling through the works.

He said: “In that regard I would add that drivers may think they know this section of road well due to being a regular user, however just because you know the road does not mean that you know what is going to happen at any given time, particularly during the ongoing construction works.

“It is this unexpected element that leads me to highlight that for the safety of all road users and workers alike drivers must travel within the speed limit posted and more importantly at an appropriate speed for the road and weather conditions, which may be less than 40mph, thereby ensuring they give themselves time to react and stop should they need to.

“Whilst the average-speed cameras are playing an important part in maintaining a safe zone on this stretch of road the ultimate responsibility lies with the individual driver complying with the restrictions in place.

“Those detected speeding to date have clearly made a conscious decision not to do so and by engaging in such risk-taking have now to deal with the consequences of that decision.”

However, Mike Burns, of the A9 Average Speed Cameras Are Not The Answer campaign, said he had been told of several drivers “crying foul” about the scheme.

He said: “With roadworks stopping at evenings and weekends, drivers are getting confused with the quite frankly bizarre and ludicrous mix of a 40mph average zone within a 60mph average zone.

“Far from being proud of the figures, there needs to be a full investigation as to why A9 drivers are subject to what we believe is the only case in the UK of varying average-speed zones within further zones, as it is clear driver confusion is playing a massive part in this.”

A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said: “Safety is a key priority across our entire network, that’s why the average-speed cameras are in place to protect road workers and road users alike.

“We would urge the minority of drivers who ignore the reduced limit to bear this in mind.”