More than 1,000 motorists were stopped during a campaign funded
by Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner to address concerns over
speeding.
The Commissioner pledged to act on the issues raised by
local people during his #D383 tour of the county, agreeing to
reinvest £30,000 left over from his 2017-18 budget into speed
checks through the worst affected towns and villages.
The funding provided 1,088 hours' of additional speed
enforcement during March and April this year on roads identified
by communities as having a problem with speeding motorists as
well as locations highlighted by the Derby and Derbyshire Road
Safety Partnership.
During the short-term campaign, 1,200 vehicles were stopped
for speeding or other driving offences including the use of
mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts and driving with no
insurance.
The Commissioner, who updated members of his Strategic
Priorities Assurance Board (SPA) on the outcome of the campaign
this week, has now written to all the parish councils involved in
the operation to assess the impact of the enforcement on the
community.
"Speeding remains the number one concern across
Derbyshire's communities and seriously impacts quality of life,"
said Mr Dhindsa.
"I've listened carefully to the views of residents and have
funded immediate enforcement action in areas experiencing the
worst problems. We will now assess the impact of this operational
work and consider future options which aim to tackle speeding in
the long-term.
"Supporting communities which want to reduce speeding on
their roads is a top priority for me and I am working closely
with the Chief Constable to expand the Community Speedwatch
programme to a wider area. This will empower local people to
monitor speeding trends in their area and re-educate those caught
flouting the law to help improve safety longer term."
Since 2016, a total of 57 separate speeding concerns have
been raised by different communities across the
county.
The Casualty Reduction Enforcement Support Team (CREST) is
part of the Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership which
provides intelligence-led speed enforcement across
Derbyshire.
The team provides a facility for members of the public to
report speeding concerns and issues are assessed for their
viability for enforcement.
There are currently more than 80 different locations across
the county waiting to be assessed while on average 10 new
requests are received by CREST each month.
The Commissioner's initiative focussed on supporting those
communities which had raised concerns over speeding but which
would not qualify for enforcement activity under the Road Safety
Partnership's criteria or CREST.
Mr Dhindsa has pledged in his Police and Crime Plan to
improve road safety and prevent road deaths.
During 2018, 51 people died on the county's road network as
a result of being involved in a road traffic accident - the
highest number of fatalities in over 10 years.
There has also been a 5% increase in the number of people
Killed or Seriously Injured in 2018 compared to 2017.
