Nearly 13,000 speeding tickets in five years. That is the haul from a single stretch of the A605 near Elton. Are the locals shocked? Not even slightly.
According to police data pried loose by a Freedom of Information request, cameras snapped 12,887 lead-footed drivers between 2020 and 2025. The worst offender on this particular strip of Cambridgeshire asphalt was clocked doing a blistering 108mph back in 2020. But that is amateur hour compared to the county record: some lunatic hit 154mph on the A14 at Fenstanton in 2023.
Francesca Martin hates the road. She lives in nearby Haddon and actively avoids it. “It doesn’t surprise me,” she said, pointing out that drivers regularly treat the speed limit as a mere suggestion. The geography does not help. Two massive hills slow down heavy lorries, turning impatient commuters into amateur drag racers. It is dangerous. Very dangerous.
The numbers do not lie. Year after year, this stretch between Elton and the A1 junction ranks comfortably in the county’s top ten speeding blackspots. Yet, some shrug it off.
Dujon Pearman lives nearby. He thinks the road gets a bad rap. “I have never thought it was horrendous,” he admitted, though he conceded the ticket numbers make sense. To him, the urge to speed is a universal human defect, not a local anomaly. It happens everywhere.
Then there is Ken Simpson. He used to commute along the A605 daily. He blames the drivers, not the design. The signs are clear. The lines are bright. “If you obey the speed limit there is no problem,” Simpson said. But the road is too good for its own safety. It has a smooth surface and excellent visibility. It practically begs idiots to push the pedal down. He sees overtaking daily.
Other drivers have been caught doing 106, 100, and 97mph here. It is a miracle more people do not end up in body bags.
The police, predictably, are trotting out the usual warnings. Speeding is one of the “fatal five” killers on the tarmac. Slowing down saves lives. It gives you time to spot a cyclist or a pedestrian before they become a hood ornament. But as long as there is open asphalt and a slow truck ahead, the cameras will keep flashing.
