A420: Plans for speed cameras on Swindon to Oxford route

The A420, which passes between Swindon and Oxford and has varying speed limits, has seen a number of dangerous road incidents, with 351 crashes taking place in the last few years. There was a crash between two vehicles on the road five days ago, and a lorry driver was also recently found guilty of killing a milkman in a crash there. Average speed cameras work by calculating the time it takes for a vehicle to travel along a set distance, instead of measuring the speed from a specific point in the road.

Oxfordshire County Council say the scheme "is still in development and at a very early stage". The spokesperson added that there were currently no further plans for more average speed cameras, but that other speed management projects were being considered under their Vision Zero speed management programme. Thames Valley Police and Crime [1] Commissioner Matthew Barber described the road as "one of the deadliest roads in the Thames Valley" and said the plans could help make an "entire route safe".

(Image: Nq) He told the BBC: "This is about saying where there's a real risk, where people have lost their lives or we're seeing people seriously injured, what can we do to tackle that?" "If we can save lives then it will be absolutely something we would look to adopt on other appropriate roads around Thames Valley. "It's not about catching people out, it's making sure we have a big impact across Thames Valley with the relatively limited resources we have to manage road policing."

He also suggested using motorbike speed units instead of vans. There are currently no average speed cameras on roads in the Thames Valley, apart from on motorways. The A420Robin Tucker from Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT) said: "Over 35 per cent of road fatalities are caused by speed related factors, and the A420 is one of Oxfordshire's most notorious roads for crashes.

"We want to see less people dead and injured on the roads, whether they are driving, cycling or walking, so we strongly support Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council working together to look at the feasibility of average speed cameras on the A420. "We think that average speed cameras would be very suited to the job, because they can cover a large amount of road all day, every day. "They would work well on other roads that have a poor casualty record and a speed limit that is the same for a reasonable distance.(Image: Contributed) "Every fatality costs society more than a million pounds in insurance, emergency services costs, lost productivity and other human costs - and then there are the knock-on impacts of every crash to other drivers stuck in the jams, and everyone in the villages that suddenly see hundreds of cars pouring through.

"There is no doubt that these cameras could make many people's lives a lot safer and better."

The scheme is still in the feasibility stage with the county council discussing funding arrangements with Thames Valley Police.

References

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