SPEED cameras on a notorious stretch of a busy road in Huddersfield have slashed accidents.

Drivers may complain as they face 17 speed cameras on a stretch of Wakefield Road from Moldgreen to Middlestown.

But a new study shows that safety on that stretch of the A642 has dramatically improved.

Cameras and traffic management schemes have drastically cut serious accidents on 10 previously dangerous stretches of road across the country.

Fatal and serious crashes on the 10 most improved routes have dipped from 541 to 209, the study by the Road Safety Foundation showed.

Speed enforcement with fixed and mobile cameras is in use on all but two of the 10 most improved roads.

The cameras on Wakefield Road were installed in 2009 and 2010 over a five-mile stretch of the road in a bid to cut the high number of accidents – many of them speed-related.

It means in some stretches, through Lepton, the cameras are only a few hundred yards apart.

More cameras were put further along the road by Wakefield Council.

There were 10 fatalities and 125 casualties in the five years up to 2009 between Waterloo and the Kirklees boundary, at Grange Moor, close to the National Coal Mining Museum.

The survey suggests those figures have now been cut by more than half, with no fatal accidents.

Busy high-risk roads like Wakefield Road have higher-than-average traffic flows, a high crash density and an above-average risk rating.

A Kirklees Council spokesman said: “The cameras are just one part of the range of tactics we use to improve safety on all our roads.

“Others include surfacing, signs or changes to the carriageway.

“It is good news that the number of casualties is reducing on this stretch of road and we will continue to work with our partners in the police and the West Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership to drive down the number even further.”

RSF director Joanne Marden said: “Even a modest ambition to improve these sections of road – so they simply get an ‘average’ risk rating – would save many lives and cost savings to the economy of £20 million annually.”

He added that speed cameras were practical, relatively inexpensive solutions which will pay back the costs of investment in a matter of weeks and go on saving lives and saving money for the nation for many years to come.

Huddersfield expert’s warning over fuel bills and what you can do to reduce fuel bills: Click here to read.