Tag: Speedwatch

Stealthy Speed Monitoring: The Results

We all paid for the radar speed sign via our Council Tax so it’s only right that there should be a progress report.

People asked why the sign wasn’t working when it first appeared. In fact, it was stealthily logging the time and speed of every vehicle in both directions. These baseline data show the “normal” speeds at the four places marked with a red star on the map i.e. the Highways-approved locations where we have a post and mounting bar. Baseline data also enable us to quantify the slowing effect of the sign when illuminated.

So, how much of a speeding problem does Stinchcombe have? Here are the results:

Largest number of speeders: Taits Hill Road – Blackthorn Barn

• over 5,000 vehicles a day in total
• around 2,800 of those exceed the 30-mph limit
• about 120 vehicles a day exceed 40 mph, the majority heading towards the A38
• on average about 4 vehicles a day exceed 50 mph

Worst speeding: The Avenue

• about 4,000 vehicles a day in total
• over 2,100 of these exceed the 30-mph limit
• about 10% of speeders are doing more than 40 mph
• on average about 13 vehicles a day exceed 50 mph
• highest recorded speed 73 mph – in the middle of the day!

Less but not trivial speeding: The Street

• about 4,000 vehicles per day in total
• around 670 of these exceed the 30-mph limit, mostly by only a few mph
• this matters in a residential area with village hall, sports fields and soon to be reinstated playground – a pedestrian hit at 30 mph has a 1 in 5 chance of being killed compared with a 1 in 3 chance at 35 mph

Lack of safe crossings: Taits Hill – Vale Vets

• no real problem with the 30-mph speed limit being broken
• even at these compliant traffic speeds we’re told that
  • pedestrians find it difficult to cross the road safely
  • residents struggle to pull out of their driveways safely
• we recommend that Stinchcombe and Cam Parish Councils work together to lobby for road safety improvements

Initial results with the sign illuminated are encouraging!

We’ve only processed the initial results for The Avenue and The Street to date.

The Avenue

Traffic entering the village from Dursley Road encounters the sign. While it was in place, compliance with the speed limit in that direction increased from about 40% to nearly 75%. The mean speed fell from 32.7 mph to 29.0 mph.

The Street

While the sign was in place on The Street, compliance with the speed limit for traffic travelling in the Dursley direction increased by almost 10%, from 82.71% to 92.26%. The mean speed decreased from 27.2 mph to 25.8 mph.

What’s next?

Stinchcombe Speed Watch will continue to move the radar sign around the four locations. Now we know there is a particular problem with vehicles heading towards the A38, we’re going to do 2 weeks in each direction at Taits Hill Road – Blackthorn Barn.

After several complete cycles, we’ll issue a further report looking at the effectiveness of the sign over a longer period. Will the response of drivers diminish, or will there be a progressive training effect? Time will tell.

The report will consider additional ways to maximise speed reduction. Evidence from the Police suggests that their advisory letters to recorded speeders are an effective deterrent. We’ll be looking at the feasibility of measures that generate letters to the worst and most persistent offenders, including:

• targeted manual monitoring; and
• deployment of a permanent AutoSpeedWatch camera on at least one of the existing posts.

The Price Tag

There would be costs associated with the AutoSpeedWatch option, which we’ll quantify in the report. Stinchcombe Speed Watch already has funds to purchase a camera and cover the first year’s data connectivity charge. Ongoing operating costs (data connectivity and the Police’s charge for letters) would need to be met from the Parish precept, which comes from our Council Tax.

We’re keen that residents should see the cost data and have chance to express their views on whether the expense would be justified.

Kath
on behalf of Stinchcombe Speed Watch

Gloucestershire County Council Road Safety Policy – CONSULTATION

I promised to let residents know when this consultation started. You can have your say by following this link:

CONSULTATION

The consultation is open until 11th September. The Parish Council and Stinchcombe Speed Watch will participate but members of the public are encouraged to join in too.

If you feel strongly, either way, about more 20 mph limits this is your chance to tell the County Council. Safer walking and cycling are other key themes on which you can comment. Horse riders don’t get the same attention in the policy as predestrians and cyclists. Bearing in mind the recent incident on Wick Lane, some of our many equestrians might want to raise that point.

Kath

Your Street needs YOU!

Without breaking any rules, Stinchcombe Speed Watch has been busy throughout the pandemic.  Following our Committee meeting on 2nd July, here is our latest news.

Speed Monitoring on The Street

Community speed watch monitoring recently began on The Street.  It is vital as a way of demonstrating our community’s commitment to tacking the speeding problem.  Without that evidence we may not get approval to use a vehicle-activated sign at locations on The Street.  Enforcement monitoring by the Police, although very welcome, is not a substitute for the involvement of residents.

Call for volunteers

We desperately need some more volunteers to assist Trudy and Cherry.  Taits Hill Road veterans are currently helping out, but we can’t expect them to do that long term. Come on all you public-spirited residents of The Street!  All it takes is a few minutes training and as little as one hour a month.  The timing of the sessions is flexible – weekdays or weekends, daytime or evenings before dusk.  Our new speed gun is much lighter than the old ones.  And abuse from motorists has really not been a problem.  In fact, we get the thumbs up more often than the finger.

Please contact  our Co-ordinator Ava if you can help.

Speed Watch “Good Practice” Meeting 29th July

Together with District Cllr Catherine Braun, we’ve been instrumental in setting up this online meeting.  Our County Councillor, District Councillors, high level Police and Highways representatives and people from other local parishes will be attending.  We intend to use the meeting to help fine tune our imminent applications for 1) a vehicle-activated sign and 2) a speed limit review for the bottom end of Berkeley Road.

Automated Traffic Survey on Taits Hill Road (19th – 25th May)

This was funded privately by Committee members to support our application for a vehicle-activated sign.  The data came in extremely handy for our detailed and critical comments on the proposed Taits Hill Road development.  We want to raise  £250 to do the same on The Street.

AGM

Our first AGM will be held at the Village Hall on Wednesday 29th September, starting at 7.30 pm. Save the date if you have an interest in road safety in Stinchcombe.