Villages take on speeders
Discussion
Villages take on speeders
A speed warning sign
By Michelle Fleming
VILLAGERS across the county are being asked to join the fight against dangerous motorists, by manning mobile speed warnings.
Under the scheme, announced by Buckinghamshire County Council, volunteers at speed hot spots will point the signs at approaching motorists to tell them how fast they are driving.
But the idea has been criticised by High Wycombe Tory councillor Val Letheren.
She said: "This is almost a case of the public taking the law into their own hands. People are being made vulnerable here and could be accosted by annoyed motorists."
Sue Brown, a council road safety officer, said: "It certainly has not been a problem to date. We have done a risk assessment for the volunteers who will be manning signs. It's more the opposite effect really. Motorists tend to ask questions and stop to have a word to find out more."
Trained volunteers in luminous tabards will observe signs and be on hand to advise motorists.
The signs are free-standing. Settings can be adjusted to just below the speed limit with flashing happy and sad faces letting drivers know if they are driving too fast."
The county council has announced that SIDs Speed Indicating Devices will be available for rent to various community groups.
SIDs have prompted a massive drop in speeding offences in Oxfordshire since being introduced last year, and police in Buckinghamshire are in favour of adopting the scheme.
Mark Oldfield, of Buckinghamshire County Council, said: "Generally motorists do not speed on purpose. This will make them stop and think and slow down."
A speed warning sign
By Michelle Fleming
VILLAGERS across the county are being asked to join the fight against dangerous motorists, by manning mobile speed warnings.
Under the scheme, announced by Buckinghamshire County Council, volunteers at speed hot spots will point the signs at approaching motorists to tell them how fast they are driving.
But the idea has been criticised by High Wycombe Tory councillor Val Letheren.
She said: "This is almost a case of the public taking the law into their own hands. People are being made vulnerable here and could be accosted by annoyed motorists."
Sue Brown, a council road safety officer, said: "It certainly has not been a problem to date. We have done a risk assessment for the volunteers who will be manning signs. It's more the opposite effect really. Motorists tend to ask questions and stop to have a word to find out more."
Trained volunteers in luminous tabards will observe signs and be on hand to advise motorists.
The signs are free-standing. Settings can be adjusted to just below the speed limit with flashing happy and sad faces letting drivers know if they are driving too fast."
The county council has announced that SIDs Speed Indicating Devices will be available for rent to various community groups.
SIDs have prompted a massive drop in speeding offences in Oxfordshire since being introduced last year, and police in Buckinghamshire are in favour of adopting the scheme.
Mark Oldfield, of Buckinghamshire County Council, said: "Generally motorists do not speed on purpose. This will make them stop and think and slow down."
Arrrgghh 
The village I was brought up (where my parents still live) are likely to fall for this, with the number of bored busy-body council members who live to moan about speeding.
"Please drive carefully through our village" signs, sleeping policemen, and they've not yet noticed that almost all the accidents are villagers taking journies from one side of the village to the other (it's 3 miles long), from the pub back home at chucking out time.
I can think of four accidents in recent years, and as I moved away ten years ago, so there have probably been more than this. A relation of mine has managed to topple his disability wagon a number of times when pissed!
Will this scheme help, would Gatso stop them - no, but they would still appear in the 1/3 lie...
Just hope all villages aren't like this...
The village I was brought up (where my parents still live) are likely to fall for this, with the number of bored busy-body council members who live to moan about speeding.
"Please drive carefully through our village" signs, sleeping policemen, and they've not yet noticed that almost all the accidents are villagers taking journies from one side of the village to the other (it's 3 miles long), from the pub back home at chucking out time.
I can think of four accidents in recent years, and as I moved away ten years ago, so there have probably been more than this. A relation of mine has managed to topple his disability wagon a number of times when pissed!
Will this scheme help, would Gatso stop them - no, but they would still appear in the 1/3 lie...
Just hope all villages aren't like this...
The signs are free-standing. Settings can be adjusted to just below the speed limit with flashing happy and sad faces letting drivers know if they are driving too fast
How much below and could these villagers end up setting the system below the limit all the time, because that way the
drivers will be much safer. Problem being if you are sure your at the speed limit and your car speedo or GPS or 
confirms that you are and this lot flashes that you aren't. Then you may feel 
& decide to have a little 
. Then again this may not happen and everywhere will be sweetness and light.
tripps said: Arrrgghh
"Please drive carefully through our village" signs, sleeping policemen, and they've not yet noticed that almost all the accidents are villagers taking journeys from one side of the village to the other (it's 3 miles long), from the pub back home at chucking out time.
Will this scheme help, would Gatso stop them - no, but they would still appear in the 1/3 lie...
Just hope all villages aren't like this...
Got to agree with this.
A girl got run over in a village next to mine. The locals were understandably up in arms. They demanded speeding restrictions.
So plod set-up a one man unit with a camera, at morning rush hour - guess what the results were?
Yep you guessed it - 80% of the speeders caught were in fact the local villagers and not commuters taking short cuts through the village as expected! 5% were so serious they went to court!
They shut-up after that!
Typical UK public, quick to demand action unless it applies to their own little numpty world.
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Monday 3rd February 18:32
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Monday 3rd February 18:34
schueymcfee said:
tripps said: Arrrgghh
"Please drive carefully through our village" signs, sleeping policemen, and they've not yet noticed that almost all the accidents are villagers taking journeys from one side of the village to the other (it's 3 miles long), from the pub back home at chucking out time.
Will this scheme help, would Gatso stop them - no, but they would still appear in the 1/3 lie...
Just hope all villages aren't like this...
Got to agree with this.
A girl got run over in a village next to mine. The locals were understandably up in arms. They demanded speeding restrictions.
So plod set-up a one man unit with a camera, at morning rush hour - guess what the results were?
Yep you guessed it - 80% of the speeders caught were in fact the local villagers and not commuters taking short cuts through the village as expected! 5% were so serious they went to court!
They shut-up after that!
Typical UK public, quick to demand action unless it applies to their own little numpty world.
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Monday 3rd February 18:32
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Monday 3rd February 18:34
They had a similar thing happen round here most of the old gits who complained got caught serves the dpzy old f**kwits right
gonna have to find one of those smiley signs flip me plate and see if i can get a seriously upset smiley
RichB said:I do when the limits are blatently set at a rediculously slow speed for the road or indeed extend for a mile or so outside the village
"Generally motorists do not speed on purpose..."Rich...
spot on Rich, same here. If they're taking the piss, I take the speed limit with a huge pinch of salt.
Rgds, WalterU
>> Edited by WalterU on Monday 3rd February 19:15
DennisTheMenace said:
So plod set-up a one man unit with a camera, at morning rush hour - guess what the results were?
Yep you guessed it - 80% of the speeders caught were in fact the local villagers and not commuters taking short cuts through the village as expected! 5% were so serious they went to court!
Now that's funny
Schueymcfee said:
So plod set-up a one man unit with a camera, at morning rush hour - guess what the results were?
Yep you guessed it - 80% of the speeders caught were in fact the local villagers and not commuters taking short cuts through the village as expected! 5% were so serious they went to court!
Just thought id correct it , i didnt say that schuey did
On a less amusing note, I was having a chat earlier today with one of my colleagues about the space shuttle disaster. He suddenly came out with, "Well, it's terrible and all that, but what's worse is speeding. Did you know that if the speed limit was reduced by 10mph on every road in the UK, over two thousand lives a year would be saved?"
I asked him where he'd got that load of old b
cks from, and he said he'd "read it somewhere". And this isn't some old fogey or car-hating simpleton - he's a bright 30-something who drives an Elise. The "speed kills" lie is gaining ground, folks...
I asked him where he'd got that load of old b
cks from, and he said he'd "read it somewhere". And this isn't some old fogey or car-hating simpleton - he's a bright 30-something who drives an Elise. The "speed kills" lie is gaining ground, folks...I try not to speed in villages, or any built up areas where a pedestrian could mess up my car or bike, but it's always amusing when people can hear you comming (Very loud pipes! )and wait to give you that dissaprovng stare 
but when they see you, you're trawling along at the speed limit, then as you reach the end of the village , drop a gear and blast off again in an unholy explosion of noise.
Give them the finger and ride off into the sunset!
)and wait to give you that dissaprovng stare but when they see you, you're trawling along at the speed limit, then as you reach the end of the village , drop a gear and blast off again in an unholy explosion of noise. Give them the finger and ride off into the sunset!
I live in a small village with a primary school on the road that goes through the village. It's really frightening to watch young children walking along a 30mph limit road with people traveling at 40-50 mph inches away.
I for one am all in favour of this and would willingly man any form of speed sensing post and would be more than happy to dicuss with any of you the merits of speeding past the school where my children go...
Far better that than wait till some f**kwit who thinks he has a god given right to ignore speed limits kills one of my children
Simon
I for one am all in favour of this and would willingly man any form of speed sensing post and would be more than happy to dicuss with any of you the merits of speeding past the school where my children go...
Far better that than wait till some f**kwit who thinks he has a god given right to ignore speed limits kills one of my children
Simon
i always keep to speed limits in villages etc - but on saturday i was driving thru a local village at about 11pm, it was clear and i could see, so i was doing about 35mph - which i THOUGHT was perfectly safe, until some dozy girl (circa 12yo) jumped out from behind a wall and hopped on her skateboard, wheeling it casually into the road in front of me - apparently they play Chicken there all the time. I nearly shat myself, i stopped easily, but i was shaken up for the rest of the evening. Stupid bloody kids.
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