On the first day of Speed Awareness Week, taking place between 13th – 17th April, 19 drivers were caught breaking the speed limit in Farmborough near Bath in just one hour.
Photo © Avon and Somerset Police
Community SpeedWatch volunteers and a police motorbike from the Speed Enforcement Unit were checking traffic on the Timsbury Road yesterday morning, Monday 13th April.
Road Safety Superintendent Richard Corrigan said: “This is a very impactive piece of evidence that CSW visible in our communities is a really valuable deterrent.
“Not only the visibility of the schemes but the use of new Community SpeedWatch signs all reinforce the message for drivers to slow down.”
During Speed Awareness Week, which is a national week of action, there will be CSW speed checks at 26 locations across the area and officers will be attending a number of these sessions.
The aim of the week is to reduce speeding and also to remind drivers to keep a check on their speed for the safety of all road users.
The week also highlights the closer links that have been established between Community SpeedWatch and the Speed Enforcement Unit (SEU).
In addition to the existing speed check locations used by the SEU, they will be increasing their visits to CSW locations where the public have highlighted high levels of speeding and the dangers this causes.
The week of action forms part of a wider road safety campaign which includes speed checks throughout the year as well as a range of other activities, such as the force’s free Road Smart driver awareness sessions looking at a number of driving risk factors.
Superintendent Richard Corrigan, the force’s road safety lead, said: “We are using this national week of action to launch a new highly visible Community SpeedWatch logo that will start to be seen across the Constabulary area.
“These signs, coupled with an improved working relationship between volunteers and the Speed Enforcement Unit, will form a highly visible presence to reduce speeds and keep our communities safer.
“This week of action enables us to put speed reduction in the spotlight to stress to motorists the dangers of driving too fast.
“We know that speeding is one of the issues most often raised by communities at PACT and public meetings and is therefore a priority for them and for us.
“This week is all about community partnership, about us working with the public to help keep their neighbourhoods safe.”
