Speedwatch in 2021

Meldreth Speedwatch in 2021

Last year the Meldreth Speedwatch team carried out 44 shifts in various key roads in the village. Some 5300 vehicles passed through our watches, of which just under 9% were exceeding our village’s speed limit of 30mph. This is a slight improvement over 2020 figures. Community Speedwatch, which a number of Cambridge villages operate as elsewhere in the country, consists of volunteer teams helping to educate local drivers – it is not enforcement. Drivers of vehicles travelling over 35 miles per hour in a 30 mph limit receive police letters. Those monitored more than twice by the same Speedwatch team, may expect a letter delivered by a police officer rather than through the post. A few drivers on our village roads had such a letter last year. With many more cyclists on our roads over the past three years, added to the increase in traffic through the village, if speeds were kept strictly below 30mph in our limited areas, this would reduce the possibility of accidents. Village volunteers contributed around 63 hours of their own time to Speedwatch shifts in the morning rush hours. We are often asked why we are not doing watches at other times and places. The positions of watches are agreed with the police, are based on team safety and are selected for likely traffic behaviour. That means areas where speeds above 30 mph can be expected in the limited area. The times chosen are busy times but also have to suit the availability of the volunteers who are often on duty in all weathers. Most drivers observe the 30 mph village limits, that is very clear. It’s the nine or ten percent of drivers who are speeding that put at risk the safety of themselves and other road users. Please respect the 30mph limits in Meldreth. If you are interested in joining a Speedwatch team, email us on csw.meldreth@btinternet.com.

Graham Borgonon Meldreth Speedwatch Team