Speed cameras on A249 Detling Hill near Jade’s Crossing removed …
A new average speed check zone is to be installed on a busy road notorious for accidents after the removal of two fixed cameras. The safety cameras on the A249 at the bottom of Detling Hill, near Maidstone[1], were taken away at the start of the week.
Kent County Council confirmed their removal is to make way for a new average speed system - although it could not say when they will be installed. A KCC spokesperson said: "Works are currently under way to change the 50mph safety cameras at Detling Hill from static cameras to average speed cameras.
"The new average speed cameras will be installed and signage is already in place."
The stretch of road is now without any speed checking equipment for the first time since 2001 when the original cameras were put in. Their arrival came one year after a double fatal crash which took the life of eight-year-old Jade Hobbs and her 79-year-old grandmother Margaret Kuwertz.
They were attempting to cross the busy dual carriageway that splits the village on December 16, 2000, when they were struck by a car. A huge campaign, led by Jade's parents, Paul and Caroline Hobbs, and aided by parish councillors and other villagers, followed which helped raise the funds for a crossing that was officially opened by Jade's mother in 2002[2].
Since the installation of the cameras, the spot has seen only one major accident where someone was killed or seriously injured, according to the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership.
Before the safety measures were put in place, 16 accidents that led to deaths or serious injury were recorded - seven uphill and nine downhill. Along with the cameras, in 2001 the road's speed limit was reduced to 50 - a restriction that was extended to the M20 roundabout at the start of 2022.
And it is a change that is being welcomed by many in the village. Cllr Stephen Thompson, who represents Detling on Maidstone council, said: "I have met some of the residents who were neighbours to the Hobbs family, who have now moved away.
"Accounts of the administrative struggles involved in constructing the footbridge that the various (past) members of Detling Parish Council have given me during my time as councillor are also instructive.
"They made clear that local residents, led by the Hobbs family, were as key to the introduction of the speed reduction to 50mph and the speed camera installation as they were to the organisation of the bridge project. "The great heartache was turned into a positive effect by the community, and we all wish that it did not take such tragedy to engage the actions of our authorities.
"All in Detling will be insistent that the speed restriction should remain in place as is now the case, as an absolute minimum.
"If it proves that the change to an average speed system brings further improvement to overall safety on this dangerous hill and dual carriageway, that is very much to be welcomed." "All in Detling will be insistent that the speed restriction should remain in place as is now the case, as an absolute minimum.
"If it proves that the change to an average speed system brings further improvement to overall safety on this dangerous hill and dual carriageway, that is very much to be welcomed."
KentOnline asked when the new system would be in place but KCC could not provide a date, instead saying they would be "installed in due course".
Along with the bridge, there is also a plaque, beneath the crossing, dedicated to Jade, Margaret and others who lost their lives due to accidents on the road.
References
- ^ Maidstone (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ crossing that was officially opened by Jade's mother in 2002 (www.kentonline.co.uk)