The Bradley Stoke police team has reported a surge in people volunteering to become members of the town’s Community Speed Watch initiative, with the number involved set to double by the end of the month.
The team was formed with the minimum required six members in July, following several years of appeals for people to come forward (we reported in 2009).
Interest in the initiative was boosted after a 13-year-old child was seriously injured in a collision with a motorcycle on Bradley Stoke Way at the end of September.
PCSOs Jason Green and Kirsty McKillop have arranged for training of Speed Watch volunteers, with ten so far trained, and another six to be trained on 23rd November.
In the three months since setting up at the end of July, 78 motorists have been identified by Speed Watch volunteers as travelling well above the maximum speed limit of 40mph on Bradley Stoke Way, with recorded speeds varying from 47 to 62 mph. All offenders are said to have been sent warning letters about offending.
Beat Manager PC Steven Palmer also reported to the recent Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Community Group meeting that five drivers were prosecuted for speeding on Bradley Stoke Way over a two or three day period ending on 17th October, through assistance from the force’s Road Policing Unit. A “few more” prosecutions had been made on 29th October, when speeds of 53 and 58mph were recorded, he added.
PC Palmer told the meeting that the local beat team doesn’t have its own speed detection equipment and currently has to borrow devices from neighbouring beats. He asked if the group could apply for a grant to buy speed guns for Bradley Stoke and a number of attendees agreed to help make a grant application.
