Motorists clocked hurtling through Derbyshire village at 140mph to 145mph, radars show
Safety radars installed in a quiet village near Chesterfield with a speed limit of 40mph have captured drivers at speeds of 140mph to 145mph.
Data taken from the speed indicating devices (SIDs) set up in the built-up part of Kelstedge on the A632 show that in March 2024 a vehicle raced through the village at 145mph at just before 1am.
In June 2024 another one was clocked at 139mph at 9.45pm, when locals may still have been pulling out of side roads in vehicles or crossing as pedestrians.
Unbelievably, a driver was recorded zooming through the hamlet at a speed of 138mph at 8.15am in May 2024 – when children would undoubtedly have been walking to school.
The data – which shows speeds captured by the devices between March 2024 and May this year – reveals that in May 35 per cent of drivers were speeding through Kelstedge, while the average speed of the 85th percentile was 48mph.
Ashover councillor Helen Wetherall labelled the maximum recorded speeds “horrendous”. She said: “It’s worth pointing out that the SIDs are located in an area where the speed limit is 40mph and yet on average 30 per cent of drivers are going above the speed limit and would get a ticket from the police if they were there – or there were speed cameras.”
The “flying mile” A632 has had 20 fatalities in 25 years but still has no speed cameras – something which Ashover Community Action Group (ACAG) has been campaigning to change, calling for average speed cameras to be installed.
There were four deaths on the lethal road in the last five months of 2023 alone, including the tragic case of Angela Boyack, 59, and her son Stephen, 22, who were both killed by an overtaking driver.
The A632 – which stretches between Matlock and Nottinghamshire – recorded 231 serious injuries during the period between 1998 and 2023. Over the same period the A5004 in High Peak – labelled Britain's most “high risk” road in 2019 by the Road Safety Foundation – recorded only six fatalities.
An ACAG spokesperson said the fatalities data was “shocking” and labelled previous responses by Derbyshire County Council to calls for average speed cameras on the A632 as “flippant, throw away comments” highlighting its “lack of responsibility and accountability”.
Work Derbyshire County Council has previously done to tackle speeding on the A632 includes reducing the speed limit, working with Ashover Parish Council to introduce flashing speed signs in Kelstedge and carrying out work to the Span Carr Crossroads.
Last month Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways, Charlotte Hill, said road safety was one of the authority’s “top priorities”, adding: “We continue to work hard with the police to improve road safety on this route. We’ve recently approved funding to create a purpose-built bay for the police to deploy their speed enforcement van on the A632 which is due to be installed in the coming months.
"This will help the police carry out speed enforcement action along the road. The annual collision rate on this route has halved since 2015 and speed surveys show that traffic speeds have also reduced following changes to the speed limits.
"We have also carried out a number of other safety measures including improving signage at junctions and cutting back foliage. But we are always striving to improve things further and average safety cameras are one of our aspirations, which we hope the Government will support us with."