Police catch 88 people speeding on A6 in one week

dfi a6 road derry to dungivendfi
The 16-mile (25.5km) stretch of road opened at the beginning of April

Police have caught 88 people speeding on the new A6 dual carriageway in the space of a week.

The head of road policing said some "atrocious speeds" had been detected, citing one driver travelling at 124mph (199km/h) near the village of Claudy in County Londonderry.

Ch Insp Graham Dodds revealed the figures on BBC Radio Foyle's The North West Today.

The stretch of A6 between Londonderry and Dungiven opened in April.

"Recently two of my officers from Maydown detected two cars - one driving on the A6 at 124mph and another driving at 107mph (166km/h)," said Ch Insp Dodds.

"They are massively above the speed limit and the danger that causes both to the person in the car but also to other people walking alongside it is absolutely shocking."

'Everybody is vulnerable'

He said police safety vans were deployed for a week on the A6 on the 15 June.

"Since 15 June - a week on that A6 - we have detected 88 offences, some of them reaching up to around 100mph," he said.

"So that's 88 occasions where people have put their own life and lives of others at risk.

"The A6 is a good road but no road is that good enough to withstand speeds like that.

"Steel and metal will always win over flesh and bone."