Local Parishes Join Forces to Clamp Down on Speeding Traffic

Regen NE Copeland, Cumbria Constabulary and local Parishes are cracking down on speeding traffic in the Cleator Moor area. 

Cleator Moor Town Council, Arlecdon & Frizington, Lamplugh, Ennerdale & Kinniside and Weddicar Parish Councils have joined forces with their local Regeneration Partnership and Cumbria Police to target speeding traffic in their area.  The parishes have donated £1,500 between them, which Regen NE Copeland has matched to provide the police with the funds to purchase the £3k Speed Indication Device (SID).  SIDs have been used previous in our area, but this one has a data recorder that will allow us to accurately monitor traffic.

This will be a really valuable tool for the Partners to help make local roads safer and target known speeding hotspots, including Cold Fell.  Each parish is compiling a list of the areas that their communities wish to see targeted and the Police will be working with County Council Highways and others to focus on the roads causing most concern.

Sarah Mitchell, Regeneration Manager says “This is a great example of local partners working together to tackle the problems that matter most to our communities”.

“This is the first SID with a data logger in use within the western force.” says PC Sara Guyatt from the Neighbourhood Policing Team, “Therefore we are delighted that our area will be the first to ‘show case’ how gathering data in this form can assist in the longer term solutions for traffic issues.”

Speeding and Collisions

1/ For every 1mph average speeds are reduced, collisions reduce by 5%

True

2/ Drivers are twice as likely to kill someone at 35mph than at 30mph

True

3/ At 40mph 9 out of 10 pedestrians will die, at 20mph 9 out of 10 pedestrians will survive

True

4/Traffic calming measures (e.g. road humps and chicanes) in 20mph zones reduce average speeds by about 10mph and result in a 50% reduction in collisions

True

5/ Measures (e.g. road humps and chicanes) adopted in rural villages reduce average speeds by about 5mph and result in at least 20% fewer collisions

True

6/ When exceeding the average speed by 25% a driver is about 6 times as likely to be involved in an incident in comparison with a driver adopting the average speed.
This is similar to the risk associated with alcohol at the legal limit of 80mg/100ml blood alcohol content.

True