In this article I aim to give you all some detail about what we as a beat team are doing to tackle speeding motorists around the Vale.
Speed is one of the main factors in fatal road accidents, and are four times more likely to occur on rural A roads than on urban A roads. In 2013, 3064 people were killed or seriously injured in crashes where speed was a factor. It doesn’t always have to involve two vehicles either, as the risk of death is approximately four times higher when a pedestrian is hit at 40mph than at 30mph.
Through community engagement it has been identified that speeding motorists cause a real concern in almost all villages across our beat, especially villages along the main commuter routes in and out of the Vale. As a result of these findings we are working with partners to enforce the speed limits and take action against offenders.
Over the coming months, teams of officers will be spread across the Vale at problem times, in an attempt to monitor speed and enforce where necessary. We are already seeing that in areas of current enforcement, there is a significant reduction in speeds of motorists. This is even more evident in areas that are also patrolled by community speed watch.
The police are very much behind community speed watch schemes in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and would urge any residents that feel strongly about this to contact their parish council in the first instance to register their interest.
Advice
• The speed limit is a limit not a target
In some road conditions, including fog and rain and traffic flow, even driving at the speed limit could be too fast.
• Country roads often have sharp bends. Stay in control and give yourself time to react to unexpected hazards by braking before the bend, not on it
Be aware that there may be unexpected hazards, such as blind bends, vehicles coming out of junctions and animals on country roads. The national speed limit on single carriage roads is 60mph, but there will be times you need to drive under that in order to drive correctly for the conditions. In fact most people do on these roads – the average free flow speed is 48mph.
• Driving too fast for the conditions is bad driving
Driving too close to the car in front, undertaking and failing to signal are widely accepted as examples of bad driving. However, some drivers fail to accept that driving too fast is also poor driving despite the fact that this is a contributory factor in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries every year.
• Consider the consequences of causing an accident due to driving at excessive speed
If you cause an accident you will have to live with the emotional consequences of deaths or injuries caused to others.
Remember, the difference of a few miles per hour can mean the difference between life and death. The faster someone is driving, the less time they have to stop if something unexpected happens.
If anyone has any further issues or concerns that they wish to discuss they may contact the Beat Team on 101. Reporting crime should also be done on 101 or 999 dependent on nature of the incident.
PCSO 6016 Liam Palmer
Leicestershire Police
Eastern Counties NPA
Vale Beat Team (NR34)
E: liam.palmer@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk