Thames Valley Police plans to ramp up community speed watch support to tackle dangerous driving

Thames Valley Police is looking to support more community speed watches to crack down on speeding – but stress that is only one of several reasons for dangerous driving on the roads.

The issue, raised at a Police and Crime Panel meeting on Friday (June 20), saw calls from councillors for greater enforcement, particularly in 20mph zones and on rural roads where the risk of serious accidents is high.

Panel members heard that police are seeking to be more ‘proactive’ in supporting community speed watches.

Speed watches are where members of the community, guided by police, use a device to track the speed of cars on a particular stretch of road.

For example, TVP conducted a community speed watch in Bray last week that led to court summons for some of the more egregious offenders.

More broadly, average speed cameras (rather than fixed speed ones) have been identified as particularly effective in curbing dangerous driving.

These measure the average speed of a vehicle over a set distance, as opposed to the classic fixed speed cameras which measure a vehicle’s speed at a specific location.

Fixed speed cameras are only effective for slowing down people ‘for 100 years or so’ and are ‘generally quite badly received by the public,’ the force and panel agree.

Moreover, TVP is prioritising mobile enforcement over static cameras to target ‘hot spots’ of dangerous driving.

This approach is intended to make the best use of limited resources, focusing enforcement on ‘where it will save the most lives’.

Current projects include investigating new data sources to better understand driving behaviours, including harsh braking and erratic driving.

Investment has also been made in processing dashcam and cycle camera footage submitted by members of the public.

This means more incidents such as close passes of cyclists and dangerous overtaking can be addressed.

While the force has received some criticism for its approach, its emphasis remains on reducing casualties. LINK

Statistics show that higher-speed roads account for the majority of deaths in the region.

Though communities expect enforcement of lower speed limits, these must be balanced against the police’s wider priorities, TVP say.

Nonetheless, the force says it will continue to enforce limits in lower-speed areas where vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists are most at risk.

TVP stressed that speeding is not the be-all and end-all of problems on the road. Rather, speed is discussed so often simply because it is ‘easy to measure’.

Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police, said he would love to be able to stop people using their mobile phones while driving, or drinking/taking drugs.

“If I could do one or the other – slow [drivers] down by 10 miles an hour or stop people doing those things – I'd probably say [the latter],” he said at the panel meeting.

Enforcement remains a challenge for police without additional funding.  As such, other measures – such as road engineering and motorist education – are also being prioritised.

There are also plans to better integrate CCTV systems for real-time monitoring and evidence gathering, and to improve coordination between CCTV operators and officers on the ground.

Road safety is a shared responsibility between the police and local councils. Thus, local authorities have been encouraged to play a stronger role in delivering communication campaigns to promote safer driving.

Mr Barber also floated the idea of creating a shared core data set for local authorities and police across Thames Valley examining driving behaviour, with all parties pitching in for the cost.

Currently, data sets commissioned by specific local authorities are piecemeal, cover a limited scope, and are less economical, he feels.