Community Speedwatch groups are on the rise as local residents feel threatened by inaction on speeding
An increase in the number of speeding drivers across the UK has sparked more members of the public to take speed monitoring into their own hands and these groups claim lawmakers are refusing to act, despite being presented with evidence of reckless driving and even collisions.
Since 2022, speeding fines nationally have increased by around 15%, according to freedom of information requests. In response, the number of police-backed organisations, such as Community Speedwatch groups, has risen to 2500 and the number of volunteers operating them to more than 17,000.
However, in some areas where locals have shown there is a speeding problem (and in some cases obtained evidence of collisions involving vehicles, property and even pedestrians), councils have said the risk of injury is too low to justify taking action.
Among the latest to have their demands rejected are residents of two roads in Bromley, south-east London. Siward Road and Godwin Road are both limited to 30mph, but speed camera-wielding residents have caught around 1000 drivers breaking that over a two-week period. Of those, 40 were travelling at more than 40mph and one was clocked at 75mph.
The group also claims to have logged more than 10 collisions in the past four years, including an incident when a pedestrian was hit and hospitalised.
However, Susannah Miller (pictured below), member of the residents’ campaign group, has accused Bromley Council of downplaying their findings.
“They make it sound like there have been no accidents at all but my neighbours and I can assure anyone that there have been,” she said. “We think physical interventions are needed but the council says five people have to be killed or seriously injured before they will consider any action. Why do people have to die or be hurt when we have the data to show there is a real risk?”
Expanding on the area’s issues, she added: “Wing mirror casualties we’ve lost count of and we haven’t even attempted to record all the near-misses.”
In response, Bromley Council’s transport chief, councillor Nicholas Bennett, claimed that the council has “no recorded injury collisions” on Siward Road and Godwin Road in the past three and a half years, and therefore “our focus will be elsewhere”. He added that due to “finite funds from Transport for London, we must prioritise any action on the basis of evidence of known accident blackspots”.
A council spokesman also defended its actions, saying it has a good road safety record in part because of its focus on prioritising collision hot spots: “Looking at the 2019-2023 five-year average for the London boroughs, Bromley saw the largest decrease in KSIs killed or seriously injured – a 48% decrease. In addition, 2023 data shows that Bromley has one of the lower casualty rates in London, with 140 KSI per billion vehicle miles, which is the 10th-lowest in London.”
The government this year launched its Road Safety Strategy, setting a target to cut deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65% by 2035.
Autocar asked the Department for Transport, which is responsible for implementing the strategy, whether Bromley Council’s insistence that people must be injured before traffic calming measures will be considered satisfies its aims.
A DfT spokesman said: “Local councils are best placed to ensure road schemes work for local people. The Road Safety Strategy aims to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roads and will include updated guidance for councils but it is vital that this is implemented locally by authorities with knowledge of their own areas.”
Community Speedwatch UK claims an apparent lack of interest from the police and councils in dangerous levels of speeding is “widespread and felt by the public. A CSW UK spokesperson said: “In most of the country, residents feel unsafe using their local roads, their quality of life is diminished, and half of the UK population is angered by the fact that not many seem to be bothered, or even worse: they just talk and write reports with little effect or change.”
Commenting on Bromley Council’s refusal to act, Miller said: “I think it’s time for a national campaign to change the way we all think about speeding, particularly in residential areas, where the stakes are so high.”
The £150 device that can help residents gather evidence
A company claims to have a product that will give residents plagued by speeding cars the data to challenge local councils that either refuse or are reluctant to act.
Called the Telraam S2, the £150 device is smaller than a mobile phone and uses a camera to count passing traffic and calculate its speed. Mounted on a window and with a clear line of sight, the S2 generates a data overview of traffic across a choice of timeframes.
“The device enables the resident to identify there’s a problem that needs some kind of intervention,” said Telraam’s Robert Mcintosh.
“It can calculate the V85 speed-the speed at or below which 85% of vehicles travel and 15% exceed. The V85 is used by authorities to deterrnine safe and realistic speed limits. For example, if the 85th car out of 100 is doing 23mph, 15% are travelling faster but 85% slower. This would be acceptable in a 20mph zone.”
Mcintosh said councils might refuse to capture data as the equipment they use is expensive to acquire, install and maintain. “They prioritise those roads where they know there are problems and where they do very good work,” he said. “However, if you’re outside those streets, they won’t collect the data and won’t do anything about it. We’re trying to help people get out of this catch-22.”
