Pendle News Room

The new system which will detect average speeds on both sides of the road will be on a five mile stretch of the A59 at Gisburn and Whittycroft Avenue (between Barrowford and Blacko).

It’s one of eight routes across the county which are being funded by Lancashire Road Safety Partnership and will be enforced by Lancashire Constabulary.

Gisburn Road will have five cameras along its length.

Between 2011 and August 2016, on the stretch from the George and Dragon at Barrowford to Gisburn, there were 56 incidents. Of this, 33 people were injured and 23 suffered serious injuries or died.

The incidents involved cars, bicycles, light goods vehicles, HGVs, an agricultural vehicle and a bus.

Councillor David Whipp, Chairman of Pendle Community Safety Partnership, said: “This is a notorious stretch of road, which has been dubbed one of the most dangerous in the country at times.

“Installing average speed cameras is probably the most effective way of reducing speeding and cutting casualties.

“At times, the road has been part of a route used as a racetrack. The new cameras should put a stop to that. This is a very welcome initiative.”

The cameras will use number plate recognition technology to detect vehicles and calculate their average speed by measuring the time taken to travel between fixed points of a known distance apart.

Signs will be in place to let drivers know that they are entering an average speed control zone.

Anyone detected breaking the speed limits will, where eligible, be given the opportunity to attend a speed awareness course to learn about the dangers of speeding, accept a conditional offer of a fixed penalty or for higher speeds the matter may be referred to court.

Installation work begins today (Monday 9 January) on the first route - the A6 London Road in Preston between the Capitol Centre (Winery Road) and Albyn Street East. Enforcement is likely to begin around March.

The other routes will have a staggered installation period with all cameras in force by the end of 2017.

Geoff Whitehead, Community Safety Manager, added: “Pendle Community Safety Partnership has identified road safety as a priority across the whole of Pendle and we urge everyone to drive safely and sensibly on all roads across the borough.”

More information about the average speed cameras can be found on the Partnership website: www.safe2travel.co.uk/speed

Notes to editors

The routes chosen by the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership are based on the following criteria:

• There is a history of collisions and casualties within the routes.
• Speed surveys indicate that speeding vehicles is an issue.
• Some of the routes have been identified as needing action around speed and road safety issues, but there aren’t any other realistic or appropriate enforcement options.