185 drivers caught on their phones on Newquay’s A3059

Drive the A3059 past Newquay Airport and a camera trailer has been logging how you drive. In under a month it caught 185 people using their phones behind the wheel. It flagged another 524 who were not wearing a seat belt.

The road runs straight past the Cornwall Air Ambulance base. The charity asked Devon & Cornwall Police to step in after a blood bike carrying blood supplies to the helicopter team was struck from behind by a car as it turned into the base.

Why the A3059 was targeted

Cornwall Air Ambulance went to the police road safety team with a problem. The stretch of the A3059 that passes their operations base has a poor crash record, and it has been getting worse.

Over the past five years the road has seen one fatality, five serious injury collisions (life-threatening or life-changing) and twelve slight injury collisions. The charity says incidents have gone up over the past 12 months, with a higher than average number of people killed or seriously injured. Some of those were crashes the air ambulance crew were called out to themselves.

The blood bike collision brought things to a head. A rider delivering blood to the helicopter team was hit from behind while turning into the base.

What the camera caught

Police worked with their Vision Zero partners on the problem. Part of the response was an Acusensus camera trailer, parked on the approach to the air ambulance base to pick up distracted drivers.

Between 21 April and 18 May it detected 185 drivers using mobile devices at the wheel. It also caught 524 people not wearing a seat belt. A seat belt will not stop a crash happening. But police point out it makes a big difference to whether you walk away from one.

What happens next

The road has been assessed for speed enforcement, and mobile enforcement is due to start in the near future. Because not every crash comes down to speed, the camera trailer will be back too. Police are also looking into whether a permanent fixed camera could go in at the location.

What Cornwall Air Ambulance said

A spokesperson for the charity said it sits on the Vision Zero board and is well aware of the dangers on the roads.

“However, the frequency of incidents on the A3059 has increased over the past 12 months and the road has sadly experienced a higher-than-average amount of KSIs on it, a number of which have been responded to by the Cornwall Air Ambulance crew. As reports of accidents and near misses increase on this stretch of road, the safety of Cornwall Air Ambulance staff, volunteers and members of the public is paramount so we fully support the enforcement action from our colleagues at Devon & Cornwall Police.”

KSI stands for killed or seriously injured.

If you drive this road

Police are asking drivers to stick to the speed limit on this stretch and to watch for emergency vehicles pulling in and out of the air ambulance base. The camera trailer has gone for now. It is coming back.