Chesterfield man urges speed camera reinstatement to stop “boy racers”

A Brimington householder fed-up with cars “flying” along a busy residential street at 50pmh is calling on road safety bosses to have a broken speed camera reinstalled.
Ian Scott is calling for a speed camera to be reinstalled on Ringwood RoadIan Scott is calling for a speed camera to be reinstalled on Ringwood Road
Ian Scott is calling for a speed camera to be reinstalled on Ringwood Road

Ian Scott says a yellow speed camera stationed on Ringwood Road was removed a month ago - despite motorcyclists and “boy racers” treating the 30mph zone like a “race track”.

The unit - which stood on the approach to the one-way system was removed by contractors a month ago, leaving speeding drivers with no need to slow down.

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Ian, 75, said: “When the camera was in position you could see the brake lights of speeding vehicles as they slowed down approaching the camera. Now of course this is no longer necessary.

“When traffic is quiet you see motorcyclists and boy racers flying up the hill - it’s a wide road and that seems to encourage them to put their foot down.

“Just pulling out of your driveway you’re putting yourself in a dangerous situation.”

The road safety device was positioned approximately 10 metres from the entrance to Robinsons Caravans – effectively slowing drivers down before encountering slow-moving, large touring vehicles.

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Ian said: “Large caravans are always being manoeuvred in and out of there – if someone is coming along at 50mph that’s a recipe for disaster.”

Retired electrical engineer Ian, who has lived on the busy road for nearly 50 years, is calling on Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership to have the device reinstalled.

He added: “I think we need more speed cameras between here and Staveley.

“In Wales they’ve already approved 20mph speed limits in built-up areas but we seem to be going in the opposite direction."

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A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: “This speed camera was installed before the traffic lights were put in on the junction. The camera was subject to criminal damage in January, and we had to remove it because it was unsafe. We wouldn’t normally put a speed camera so close to a set of lights, as traffic lights act to slow down traffic, so we have decided not to put it back. We note the concerns of the resident about speeding traffic here and will ask the Police if they can visit with the mobile speed van.”

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