Ramsgate mum campaigns for lower speed limit in Dumpton Park Drive

KentOnline / KMTV

Keena Entwistle's 18-year-old son Ethan died in a car accident in 2023.   It comes as KMTV has data of the Kent cameras where the most speeding tickets are given, as Sofia Akin reports.

Transcript

00:00 A mum from Ramsgate wants speed calming measures introduced on Dumpton Park Drive after her

00:06 18-year-old son Ethan died in a car accident. In October he was the passenger in a SEAT

00:12 Ibiza when the driver collided with this tree. Ethan didn't make it and tragically died at

00:19 the scene. Now his mum Kina has started a petition and

00:23 has asked Kent County Council to lower the speed limit on this road from 30 to 20.

00:29 Ethan's unfortunately was the second fatality in under 18 months along this road and the

00:36 Dumpton Park Road Safety Group have already been wanting to get speed measures put on

00:42 this road. Since Ethan's accident I've also joined with them to get speed calming measures

00:50 along here and I'm also really in favour of the graduated driver licences which there's

00:58 a petition going for that as well. Anything that we can do to try and stop somebody else

01:05 from having to come here like this to visit someone they love.

01:10 But sadly Ethan wasn't the first to die along this road. Back in 2022 a woman in her 50s

01:16 was riding her bike a little further up the road when she was involved in a car accident.

01:21 Ethan's mum hopes with this petition she can remind drivers of the rules of the roads and

01:26 avoid any further fatalities. Kent Police are also cracking down on those

01:31 speeding as thousands in the county continue to commit the offence year on year.

01:36 In a Freedom of Information request, KMTV uncovered all the areas in Kent where the

01:41 most speeding tickets were dished out by officers in the past five years as well as the five

01:47 cameras where the most money has been generated from speeding tickets in the same period.

01:52 For last year, the M25 between Clackett Lane Services and Junction 5 generated the most

01:58 money from tickets. More than 10,000 tickets were handed out here, bringing in £261,000.

02:07 Second, third and fourth most revenue in Kent was the M25 Swanley, Chatham Road and the

02:12 Dartford Tunnel, these three spots each bringing in more than £200,000 from tickets.

02:17 Fifth most revenue was Hoth Way at more than £100,000.

02:23 And looking at the same data from the previous years, you'll see every year for the past

02:27 five years the Dartford Tunnel and M25 have been some of the spots bringing in the most

02:33 revenue from tickets. Last year, Kent's top five earning speed

02:36 cameras brought in £987,600 and the officer-operated cameras brought in more than £1.3 million.

02:45 First, I'd like to point out that Kent Police don't profit or don't receive any money from

02:49 the speeding penalties. The monies paid by the driver will go into

02:53 His Majesty's Court Service. I don't know if technology has advanced to

02:58 the point where we're catching more drivers. I think it's just Kent's roads are becoming

03:02 increasingly busy and we are determined to send that safety message out.

03:07 And it does, it's really disappointing but people are still continuing to speed.

03:12 The roads you mention are particularly busy roads with higher volumes of traffic, hence

03:17 the higher enforcement rate. The minimum penalty for speeding is £100

03:23 and three penalty points on your licence. Building up 12 or more points within three

03:28 years could lose you your licence. Sophia Akin for KMTV.

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