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A busy stretch of the M6 motorway limited to 50mph for 2 years due to roadworks has amazingly attracted only 56 speeding tickets in that time.
A report by local newspaper the Express & Star reveals that the Police forces in the West Midlands, Staffordshire and West Mercia divisions covering the lengthy stretch issued just 56 £60 fixed penalty notices.
This is despite the section of motorway being used by 160,000 drivers a day, reports the paper.
It’s a staggering reduction that is even more eye-opening when you compare with figures for 2006, before the roadworks were in place: back then, 1,267 motorists were caught speeding through the Staffordshire section alone.
The Express & Star acquired the statistics under the Freedom of Information Act: the figures are from February 2009 to February 2011. In this period, West Midlands Police handed out six tickets, Staffordshire caught 28 drivers and West Mercia issued 22 tickets.
The dramatic fall in speeding fines is being attributed to the average speed cameras, that have been controlling speeds to 50mph through the roadworks section, that stretches from Junction 8 at Great Barr to Junction 10a.
RAC Foundation spokesman Phillip Gomm told the paper such a lack of speeding tickets being issued was “extraordinary.
“Government figures show that in free-flowing motorway traffic, half of all cars do above 70mph.”
Do you think the lack of speeding tickets is significant – and do you fear the success of the scheme could lead to more permanent speed-controlled sections of motorway in the UK?
