Average speed camera plan for 'deadliest road'

Average speed cameras are currently only used on motorways in the Thames Valley

A plan is under way to install average speed cameras on "one of the deadliest roads in the Thames Valley", a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has said.

Crashes on the A420 in Oxfordshire have resulted in 351 casualties, 12 of them fatal, between the start of 2021 and the end of 2023.

Thames Valley PCC Matthew Barber said other new tactics to crack down on speeding motorists could include mobile speed cameras mounted on motorbikes.

There are currently no average speed cameras in the Thames Valley other than on motorways, and if successful the A420 model could be rolled out to the rest of the region, Mr Barber said.

The A420 is a 28-mile (45km) stretch of road with varying speed limits.

Average speed cameras calculate the time it takes for a vehicle to travel over a certain distance, rather than just calculating the speed of a vehicle as it passes a specific point.

Dr Shaun Helman, chief scientist from the Transport Research Laboratory, told the BBC: "We know that some drivers will play the game a little bit around fixed speed cameras, but with an average one people understand you can't really do anything about that."

Crashes on the A420 in Oxfordshire in recent years have resulted in 351 casualties, 12 of them fatal

Mr Barber said the plan was currently at the feasibility stage, but if the cameras were installed with funding contributions from Oxfordshire County Council, it would be a "first" for the area, and help make an "entire route safe".

He added: "This is about saying where there's a real risk, where people have lost their lives or we're seeing people seriously injured, what can we do to tackle that?"

The PCC said the cameras needed to cover as much of the route as possible to be effective.

"If we can save lives then it will be absolutely something we would look to adopt on other appropriate roads around Thames Valley," he said.

PCC Matthew Barber said the plan could make an "entire route safe"

Mr Barber also described using motorbike speed units instead of vans as a "potential new tactic".

"It's not about catching people out, it's making sure we have a big impact across Thames Valley with the relatively limited resources we have to manage road policing."

But Mr Barber said the force was still mindful that other areas of road safety, such as the use of mobile phones, drink or drugs behind the wheel, were a factor.

In a statement, Oxfordshire County Council confirmed it was in discussion with Thames Valley Police regarding the potential funding arrangements of the scheme.