A total of 3,616 fines have been handed out to speeding drivers on a stretch of the A66 in the last 12 months – a 299% increase on the year before.
Cumbria Road Safety Partnership was launched in April 2023 to improve road safety and reduce serious collisions and deaths on the county’s roads.
The partnership, including representatives from emergency services, councils, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Institute of Advanced Motorists, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and National Highways, targeted accident blackspots on the county’s road network.
Since it was set up, deaths and serious injuries have reduced, it said. There were eight road deaths in the 12 months, a reduction of 26.7% and 14 very serious injuries, a reduction of 29.2%.
It adopted Vision Zero, an initiative aiming to have zero road deaths in the county by 2040.
On the A66 east of Penrith, the mobile speed camera van was deployed 643 times between April 2023 and March 2024 in comparison to the 214 deployments in the same period the year before – a 300% increase.
On the same stretch of road in the same timeframe, 3,616 notices of intended prosecutions were issued to drivers in comparison to 1,209 in 2022/23 – a 299% increase.
The partnership currently targets the following roads, although locations change depending on increases or decreases of collisions:
- A66 Crackenthorpe/Kirby Thore
- A66 east of Penrith
- A66 Stainmore
- Junction 37 M6 south/north exits
- A590 Gilpin Bridge
- A590 Newby Bridge
- A6 Milnthorpe
- Ramsay Brow, Workington
- Front Street, Brampton
- A595 Whitbeck
- A5086 Cockermouth/Paddle School
Projects carried out by the partnership included a first-of-its-kind trial Harm Prevention Guardianship National Highways on the A66 near Crackenthorpe where Highways deployed vehicles 266 times between September 2023 and April 2024 to reduce road harm.
Cumbria police also carried out several operations to target speeding, drink/drug driving, mobile phone use, not wearing seatbelts and uninsured drivers.
One of these operations took place in April 2024 to tackle the fatal four and take part in Op Tramline with the use of an HGV to catch motorists driving dangerously.
During the month, 89 drivers were caught over the legal limit – 57 drug-related, 32 drink-related.
Speeding offences saw the highest result with 2,672 motorists caught with mobile speed camera vans and police officers. Use of mobile phones and not wearing a seatbelt were also issues spotted with 30 and 14 offences respectively
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, with funding from the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, took the lead on an innovative virtual reality education road awareness pack.
It will allow young people to experience a variety of driving scenarios and outcomes in a fully immersive manner including drink/drug and risky driving. Since its introduction in January 2024, 533 young people have taken part in the educational pack.
Inspector Jack Stabler, of Cumbria Constabulary’s Roads Policing Unit, chairs the Cumbria Road Safety Partnership.
He said: “Extensive work has been carried out by a number of agencies to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the county’s roads.
“Despite the reduction in the number of collisions resulting in fatality or serious injury, we remain far from complacent. Any death on the county’s roads can have a significant and tragic impact on those involved, their families and the wider community.
“This is why we, as a road safety partnership, are committed to achieving our aim of zero road deaths on Cumbria’s road network by 2040 as part of Vision Zero.
“We will continue to work together to use our combined expertise and resources to target collision hotspots and make those places safer.”
