The traffic on the A43 between Northampton and Kettering is fast and very heavy. Since the opening of the A14 linking the East Coast ports with the M1 there has been a big increase in traffic using the A43 to move North to South and vice versa between the A14, the A1, the M1 and the M40 (which the A43 eventually joins).
The A43 the 'Kettering Road' or 'Northampton Road' depending in which town you start, is predominantly rural, moving through rolling open countryside. A single-carriageway in each direction is broad and open - technically the speed limit is 60 mph. If you try driving slower than 70 mph you find cars and lorries right on your bumper 'encouraging' you to speed up.
Making a turn into a joining road or a farm or home entrance is a perilous affair with rear-end collisions common as following drivers don't believe you are turning. Almost all the major intersections have had fatalities or serious injuries.
Urgent action is needed to control speeds on this dangerous road.
What evidence is there that speeding is 'endemic' on the A43, that speed is the cause of the accidents which have occurred here and therefore that speed cameras will be effective?
I use the road daily and rarely achieve over 40mph because of the heavy rates of traffic. I don't argue with the fact the road is dangerous, however I believe that increased policing for dangerous driving, tailgating etc. which are not tackled by speed cameras would be more effective than average speed cameras which simply switch off drivers' concentration over long distances.
Posted by: Jenny Frost | 16/12/2006 at 08:16 PM