Thousands of drivers have been caught speeding in just the last four months through a set of roadworks on the M6, prompting National Highways to issue warnings to protect workers.
Work started on the £9m project to refurbish Lowther Bridge in March and saw the introduction of a 40mph speed limit through the main roadworks to ensure the safety of workers and drivers.
Despite this safety measure, over 10,000 drivers have been fined since 12 June, when average speed cameras within the road works were activated.
The national road authority has warned that drivers are putting lives at risk, their own as well as the lives of highway staff, as speeding through these roadworks puts drivers in danger of colliding with heavy machinery or excavations obscured by temporary safety barriers.
Additional warning signs have been put in place along the motorway regarding the temporary speed limit, which National Highways states was put in place due to a lack of space along the carriageway.
A stepped approach has also been employed, with a 50mph speed limit in place prior to the 40mph section to help drivers ‘adjust more slowly’ to the traffic management.
According to National Highways, complying with the 40mph speed limit adds less than a minute to drivers’ journeys, whereas ignoring the safety measure could cost them a £100 fine and three licence penalty points.
National Highways programme manager Steve Mason said: ‘Safety is our number one priority. Tens of thousands of people use this section of the M6 every day but for the sake of shaving an extra minute or two off their journey times some drivers are putting their own safety and the safety of our roadworkers at risk.
‘Our staff and contractors are working around the clock to complete this project as quickly as possible and they’re entitled to do that safely without the threat of being maimed or killed by someone recklessly speeding through the roadworks.’
Inspector Jack Stabler, Cumbria Police’s Roads Policing Unit lead and chair of Cumbria’s Road Safety Partnership, said: ‘Speed cameras aren’t popular with some but the cameras currently in place on the M6 south of Penrith serve an extremely important purpose in allowing for the motorway to remain open whilst essential work is carried out.
‘Whilst the number of people fined may grab the headlines, the real concern is the number of people driving with a disregard for the lives of those who are in a vulnerable position, working alongside moving motorway traffic.
‘So please allow a few minutes more for your journey and think of the workers by the side of the road who, just like you, have families they would like to go home to.’
