Cat and Fiddle to get average speed cameras

16 February 2010

Work has begun to install seven average speed cameras along the ‘Cat and Fiddle’ route (A54 and A537 Buxton to Macclesfield) which motorists use to travel between Derbyshire and Cheshire.

The scheme - which means that motorists breaking the route’s 50mph limit will risk getting a fine and licence points - is a joint initiative between Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership, Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership and the Department for Transport.

Of the 264 casualties on the road since 2001, around 70 per cent of those killed or seriously injured were motorcyclists. The main causes of crashes along the route are poor cornering or manoeuvring, speeding and failing to judge another vehicle’s speed.

Robert Hill, the manager of Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership, said: “Recently, we’ve resurfaced our section of the route, lowered the speed limit to 50 mph, installed motorcycle-friendly crash barriers and made reading the road easier for motorists with improved road markings and roadside signs.

“We also display temporary warning signs along the route during the leisure biking season and have featured the route in The Bikers’ Guide to Derbyshire, which tells motorcyclists how to survive the countryside routes in the county where riders regularly come to grief.” 

Robert added: “Despite our best efforts, the Cat and Fiddle is still a cause for concern.  EuroRAP - the European Road Assessment Programme – continues to view the Cat and Fiddle as a problem route because the number of people killed or seriously injured on it is still high when compared with routes across the country with similar levels of traffic. “

The average speed cameras on the Cat and Fiddle road will be up and running by the end of March.

Both road safety partnerships are working closely with the Peak District National Park Authority to minimise the impact that the speed cameras will have on the landscape.