By Press Release
By Mal Butler
A community SpeedWatch launched seven months ago has published its latest data after monitoring more than 8,000 vehicles.
Freshwater Community SpeedWatch was born out of concern and frustration at the high speeds of a small minority of motorists. Volunteers take note of speeding cars in and around the Freshwater, Colwell and Freshwater Bay area.
Co-ordinator, Huw Jenkins, said: “We’re one of 80 teams across Hampshire. The community SpeedWatch scheme enables members of the public to monitor the speed of traffic passing through their area and identify vehicles that exceed the speed limit.
“Each scheme is run by volunteers, managed and supported by the local Neighbourhood Policing Team. There are up to five of us at a session, all wearing Hi-Viz jackets – our presence alone has reduced the speed of vehicles in the area.
“One of us will be holding what looks like a hair dryer but is, in fact, a radar speed detection device that measures speeds of up to 200mph – please don’t see this as a challenge!
“We manually collect details of speeding vehicles and pass this onto the police. The vehicle’s registered keeper is then sent an educational letter. It tells them their vehicle was seen exceeding the speed limit and the impact their actions have on our local community. If the registration number is logged again within two years, the vehicle’s keeper will receive a warning that if it is seen a third time, an officer may take further action. Community SpeedWatch is not enforcement; it is education.
“The Freshwater Bay Residents’ Association funded our initial investment in equipment. In our first seven months, we ran 70 monitoring sessions and checked the speeds of 8,000 vehicles.
“The good news is that the vast majority were not recorded as being over the limit, but 6 per cent were. For SpeedWatch purposes, we only record vehicles travelling 10 per cent more than two mph over the limit (i.e. 35 in a 30mph zone).
“We have received words of encouragement from local residents but, unfortunately, we have also been the victims of aggressive and offensive behaviour.
“When we started, we all had our own ideas on speeding hotspots, but we’ve discovered that some roads are scary, but speed is a perception, not a fact.
“The width of a road, lack of pavement, maybe compounded by parked vehicles, and the loudness of traffic bouncing off walls can all increase a feeling of danger and speed.
“It’s very easy to exceed the speed limit. Speed can creep up, especially downhill, unless you take steps to slow down. We hope that community Speedwatch in Freshwater can be a timely reminder to slow down and help keep our community safe.”
Header image: SpeedWatch volunteers at an event to highlight giving room to horses and riders
Mal Butler