County’s drivers stick to the law in lockdown
While lockdown has seen drivers’ speeds increasing on empty roads across the country, the county’s motorists appear not to have taken advantage.
The RAC says some drivers across the country used emptier roads to drive at “dangerous speeds”, including in residential areas.
But Department for Transport data shows that last year cars and light vans in the county travelled roughly the same speed as 2019 – an average speed of 36.7 mph on ‘A’ roads in Shropshire, and at 40.3 mph in Telford and Wrekin.
The A495 and the A464 saw the biggest rise in speeds, up 10 per cent.
West Mercia Police have welcomed the figures but urged caution as roads get busier with schools reopening.
Inspector Lloyd Cresswell said: “Despite some areas nationally reporting rises, it’s encouraging to see from the national data that speeding within Shropshire and Telford doesn’t appear to have increased during lockdown.
“West Mercia Police’s commitment to road casualty reduction has been ongoing and keeping the road network safe and operating has been an integral part of policing over lockdown.
“With many school children and parents returning to the school run we are urging all road users to take extra care.
"Roads that may have been quiet over the past few months may start to see an increase in use again so whether you are a driver, pedestrian, cyclists or motorcyclist were urging everyone to do their bit and stay safe.”
Across England last year, the average speed of cars and light vans on ‘A’ roads rose by eight per cent.
This was caused by a steady increase in speeds following the imposing of Covid-19 stay-at-home restrictions in March last year, the Department for Transport said.
