MOTORWAYS are the safest roads in Britain but working on a motorway as cars speed past at 70mph is highly dangerous.

The average fatality rate for people working on the Highways England road network is one of the highest of all employment sectors in the UK. During the past decade, 16 road workers have lost their lives at these sites and many more have been injured.

So it is right and proper that when a major improvement scheme like the A1 upgrade in North Yorkshire goes ahead, sensible measures should be taken to slow traffic down.

Drivers in a hurry may be frustrated by the 50mph speed limit on the A1 but they would be glad of it in the event of an accident. The stopping distance at 50mph is 250 feet. The stopping distance at 70mph is 490 feet.

And the best way to make sure drivers obey the limit is to use speed cameras.

Temporary speed limits enforced by cameras are set in accordance with strict regulations. Evidence shows that average speed cameras, as used on the A1, encourage greater compliance because they can catch drivers who speed up between camera points.

They also have a traffic-calming effect – keeping vehicles moving when two lanes become one or contraflows are in operation.

The workers who upgrade and improve our motorways are often unseen and unappreciated but without them the country’s roads network would grind to a halt. Their safety should be the absolute priority.

However, Highways England could do motorists a favour – and go a long way to disproving the claim that its speed cameras are a handy revenue generator – by removing the “temporary” 50mph limits on the stretches of the A1 near Leeming that are now finished.