Outraged lorry drivers last night claimed speed cameras forcing them to drive under 40mph on the A1 are actually a danger to motorists. Drivers' groups are calling for the Government and the police to allow them to travel at 50mph to help reduce accidents on the notorious stretch of road in Northumberland. They claim motor patrols have traditionally ignored HGV's travelling at 50mph because they realise it helps the flow of traffic, but speed cameras - which can be set to catch HGV's at 40mph and cars at 60mph - give them no such leeway. Chief Supt of Operational Support at Northumbria Police Bob Patterson said there was no official policy of tolerance to lorry drivers travelling at 50mph, but his officers had some discretion when they witnessed an offence, ranging from doing nothing to making an arrest. He said: "I'm quite sure there have been occasions when they have seen HGV's going between 40 and 50mph and have done nothing or issued a warning. "There is no policy or any directive from senior officers but I readily accept there will be occasions when motor patrol officers will not issue a ticket." Association of British Drivers spokesman and Alnwick-based haulier Alan Dodd said: "Trucks are caught at 40mph, but we have been encouraged to go at 50 to get traffic moving. When cameras force people to drive at 40mph on fast roads, they are causing more accidents than they are there to prevent. "The Government's spin has called them safety cameras, but they are all about revenue rather than safety - we call them scameras." Malcolm Docherty, a driver with ACC Distribution in Blaydon, Gateshead, was shocked to receive a fixed penalty ticket for travelling at 48mph past a speed camera on the A1 at Hebron in Northumberland. Mr Docherty, 45, of St Austell Gardens in Low Fell, Gateshead, said: "HGV's can get caught at 40mph on the A1, but there is an unwritten rule between the police and ourselves that we are okay to travel at 50mph. This is going to cause more accidents than it prevents." He said slow moving HGV's annoyed car drivers who then tried to overtake. For more articles on The Journal's Safety First campaign, click here. | 
