Over £70,000 pledged to help local communities in Cambridgeshire tackle speeding

Darryl Prestion has agreed £15,000 of funding to replace equipment used by local Community Speedwatch Scheme volunteers and £56,000 for marked police vans to be used by Special Constables.

Initially, end of life police vans will be used; these will be replaced later in the year with three new vans to provide volunteer support across the whole county.

Darryl said: “Many people who live and work in the county tell me that they are concerned about speeding vehicles in their village, town or city.

“It is really important that we educate these drivers about the dangers of speeding and prevent crashes before they happen; the Community Speedwatch Scheme harnesses the passion of local communities to do just that.

“The marked vans staffed by members of the Special Constabulary will also act as a visible deterrent to those not paying attention to speed warning signs.

“These volunteers all make a real difference to the safety of others which is why I am genuinely pleased to fund the equipment they need to do that job.”

Community Speedwatch is not an enforcement tool, it is a designed to educate motorists about speeding and monitoring speeding trends in neighbourhoods.

Volunteers are trained in the use of speed indicator devices (SIDs) which display a vehicle’s speed. The registered owner of any vehicle seen exceeding the speed limit is sent an advisory letter from the force, explaining that speeding is unacceptable to the local community.

Repeated speeding results in a letter hand delivered by a police officer. There are currently 135 schemes running in the county.

Across the country, more than twice as many people are killed in traffic collisions as are victims of all forms of homicide combined, and six times as many are killed as the result of knife crime. In 2020, a total of 34 people were killed on the county’s roads.

Last year, Cambridgeshire established a local Vision Zero Strategy which aims to make it the case that no human being should be killed or seriously injured as the result of a road collision.

The partnership’s Delivery Manager Matt Staton, added: “Speeding has been identified as top priority for all agencies to achieve ‘vision zero’ and that the evidence is clear, the faster a vehicle is travelling the more likely someone is to get hurt if it is involved in a crash.”

To find out more about Speedwatch schemes in Cambridgeshire, visit: www.cambs.police.uk/information-and-services/Road-safety/Speedwatch/About-Speedwatch.