Safe Speed Forums

My Parish Council are obsessed with so called "speeding" thorough our village (even though IMO there is no issue with this). They have applied for Community Speedwatch training so I have sent them the following letter:

Attn: Clerk to Parish Council

Dear xxxxxx,

I am writing to you once again about the seeming obsession of the PC with vehicle speed in xxxxxx as I note that the Meeting Notes of 10th December report that all the PC members agreed to proceed with Community Speedwatch. I assume that all the members already know that these practically ineffectual schemes are the constabulary's method of appeasing locals who continually moan about alleged "speeding" in their area.

The PC needs to consider the issues relating to the following:

- As, by your own admission, only persistently detected "speeders" are likely to have any further action taken against them, these will probably be local people regularly travelling through the village. Will the operators of the scheme be willing to "shop" their neighbours and tolerate the attendant bad feeling that this will produce? Remember that anyone reported is likely to know the operator (and where they live).

- If an operator spots both Mrs Smith and Mrs Brown over the limit but Mrs Brown is their best friend, would they report both miscreants without fear or favour? My point is that these schemes are open to favouritism and unfairness.

- Suppose an operator has a dispute with one of their neighbours. A few false reports of them speeding would be a good way to get back at them wouldn't it? These schemes are doomed to decay into a morass of disputes and injustices.

Experience with these schemes shows that they are started by one or two locals with "axes to grind" but soon peter out due to lack of interest and support. I urge you not to get involved in this pointless folly and spend more time pressing to get the large potholes in the main road repaired. This would be a service more useful to the general community.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Well said, Malcolm.

It's interesting how you never see these schemes in urban areas, only in rural villages and small towns.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Do these community speed watchers have any real power these days? Are they trained to a level where their evidence is acceptable in court?

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

To answer your question:
No, the volunteers have no authority nor can their "observations" be used in court.
Under the "community speedwatch" (shop-your-neighbour) scheme they just note the speed/registration. After two notations against a vehicle the registered keeper is sent a "letter" by the police. That vehicle, if reported again, becomes a "target" by the POLICE.
Most people just drive past them at a few miles an hour...

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

Some good points made. I might also have asked what evidence exists that these 'scheme's' have any benefit whatsoever ?
I would then have asked how the dangers of the public on the side of the road help drivers learn in any way about how to pay better attention rather than become distracted by the local 'mob'.
I would also ask how they think this is better than having Police patrols ? Are they not meant to be 'protecting and serving'?
Have local roads been reduced lately? ... (might add in a line that if local roads have been reduced to the recent average road user speed then this is not in the best interest of road safety - as when observing the 85% of drivers who's free travelling speed is otherwise safe and responsible.)
What other education and any other policies have been used, to help road users understand that driving to conditions is less important than any specific numeric value ?
...something like this anyway !

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Why is it dangerous for the public to be at the side of the road if drivers deport themselves correctly? Or are you promulgating the opinion that roads are only for motor vehicles and that pedestrians have no place there?

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

When I go running, the speed of the traffic does not affect me one jot, for I run on the pavement . I also walk on the pavement and drive on the road

You obviously live in a very special area if all your roads have pavements. In NW Derbyshire a pavement alongside a country road is a rarity. And where there is one it is used a depositary for snow shifted from the road so that pedestrians are forced to walk in the road.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

No, I don't believe it's any more dangerous than for any other pedestrian and as far as I'm concerned, let's have MORE community speed watchers! The few schemes I've heard of round here haven't lasted that long (or don't appear to have, at any rate)! If these people want to stand out there freezing their bits off in order to learn that actually, contrary to what they IMAGINED:

(a) There are nothing like as many speeding motorists as they thought;
(b) Those that are, generally don't achieve the ludicrous speeds that they assert are commonplace and
(c) These evil psychopaths are actually their freinds and neighbours

Then only good can come of it!

They don't, but I choose to run next to the ones that do. I was particularly upset a few weeks ago when seeing 7 cyclists on the pavement and/or without lights for every 10 I saw, when I asked a traffic cop that was evidently trying to save my life by collaring "speeding" motorists, that certainly were not doing me any harm, what he was going to do about the f*****g cyclists on the pavement and he said the was nothing he could do about it. I felt like shoving his LTi2020 where the sun didn't shine.

Those of us who are forced or choose not to travel by car rarely have the luxury of choosing between routes where the roads have pavements and where they don't.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I was brought up in rural shropshire. No street lights, no pavements. If you don't have a car you stay at home. When we were kids we would bike everywhere, the speed of the vehicles never bothered me, we didn't go near A41 though. I have run along a road at home where I know the speed of the odd car that does use it is err, quite quick , but I found opening my eyes and ears to be a big help. It is a road after all.

Precisely. And therefore all road users, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians have equal right to use it. No one class of user has priority over the others.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

walk around any large industrial complex and there will be machinery driving about. Common sense says you (the pedestrian or driver of smaller vehicle) need to keep your wits about you. You may even be prohibited from wandering where you like.

My motor cycle is in the tax bracket of bicycle, so can I ride it in cycle lanes?

Pedestrians have priority over vehicles at pedestrian crossings (zebra)
Cyclists have priority over vehicles on cycle lanes (and at many traffic lights)
Buses have (enforced) priority over other vehicles in bus lanes (and prioritised by electronic means now)

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

Our so called community volunter plonks himself and his SID on the footway. Someone without the confidence to tell him to shift before they report him for obstructing the footway steps into the road without looking behind them straight into the path of a car - guess the rest. A great contribution to road safety I think not.

Parish Council's will not take a lot of notice of a letter you might do better going along to the next meeting. They are open to the public and there is usually a slot for residents to raise concerns followed by a short discussion.

Do a bit of homework and ask out of a parish population of X how many people have actually asked that a speedwatch scheme be supported? It will probably only be a few. Then ask if they think that is really representative of the parish as a whole.

The Parish Council meetings are, indeed, open to my attendance and there is actually a vacancy at present on the Council.

I will not be putting myself forward as I will almost certainly disagree with a lot which they do and I can't be bothered arguing with a lot of self-important windbags. I'll give you an example of their idiocy. They got the sign from the main A road into the village changed to show a different local place name to deflect lorries from coming through. A few months later they had it changed back as visitors could not find the place.

A secondary reason I will not be applying is the rule on disclosure of interests now placed on even the lowest level of public officials.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

That's one of my personal bugbears: signs that deliberately send you the wrong way, or more accurately the long way round to avoid some nimbys' houses.

If I see a sign that's obviously added after the main sign that directs me in one direction, I can usually hazard a guess that the opposite direction applies. Examples:

1. Any yellow sign near a road closure that says "Not suitable for diverted traffic". This actually means "the quickest way round the closed road".

2. As one drives up the A37 towards Bristol out of Pensford, there is a left turn up a B-road that goes through Chew Magna and straight to Bristol Airport. Yes, you guessed it, there's a sign sending you straight on. If you follow Airport signs, you go right in to Bristol and right out again.

Why do we tolerate our elected officals lying to us?

No it actually means. This is a quicker way round the closed road for a few cars but if everybody uses it there will be a massive traffic jam which, as well as wasting your time, will prevent the local inhabitants from getting on with their business

I saw a perfect example of this a few weeks a go when my local single track road (incidently signed "Access Only") became an obvious bypass for some badly timed temporary traffic lights on the main road. It was quite innocuous at first but when the commuter and school run started it was chaos. Watching a two big chelsea tractors trying to pass each other on an eight foot wide road with the nearest passing place 100 yards away was quite amusing. It was quite tempting to close my gates to stop it being used as a passing place

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I'd generally rather squeeze down a short narrow lane than go twenty miles round as directed, thanks.

As far as I can tell from observation only, traffic is only allowed to be diverted on to a road of similar type or better, e.g. if an A road is shut, the traffic must be diverted to another A-road.

Can anyone confirm this?