Speeding is a frequent cause of complaint to councillors – and most people are saying, ’Slow down!’  Fast traffic is intimidating, putting people off walking and cycling, or letting their children do so. The result: more motor traffic. Speed causes accidents – police say it is the cause of about a third of traffic collisions – at worst, it results in injury or death.

Cambridge is changing the speed limit in residential roads, and the 20mph signs should be coming to Queen Edith’s next – but as we all know, some motorists flout speed limits, either through carelessness; or worse, because they don‘t care.

Police do their best to enforce speed limits, and tackling anti-social driving is a priority in this area; but they cannot be everywhere at once. So how about some community action?

SPEEDWATCH enables volunteers to address speed concerns in their own neighbourhoods. Teams of three people set up roadside speed monitors. When a vehicle passes, the monitor flashes up the speed the driver is doing. Volunteers clock vehicles that are over the limit, and police then follow up with letters of advice.

Jennifer Page-Croft of Wulfstan Way and I met PCSOs Michaela Bright and Decca Riondino for a training session – you can see us here in our yellow Speedwatch tabards. We chose Queen Edith’s Way to practise in, as it’s a road that generates a lot of complaints.

The officers showed us how to set up the signs and speed monitoring device, and how to record the cars. You record the details of the cars exceeding the limit: speed and time, vehicle colour and – slightly harder for me – the make and model.

If you’re one of the people anxious or annoyed about speeding in the area, can I invite you to get involved? We need some more people in the south of Cambridge to make this work.

The police have another training session next Tuesday evening at Parkside Police Station. I’m told there are even a couple of parking spaces (priority for people with disabilities).
Tuesday 23rd February 6.30-8.00pm
If you’d like to attend, email [email protected].

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