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Community Speed Watch


BrundallNavy

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I have noticed recently that more and more Comunity Speed Watch areas appearing, does any one know what powers these people have.

There was one yesterday in Salhouse but where standing only a 100 yards or so from the 30 mph sign and seem to be writing down every cars number as it passed.

Doug.

Edited by brundallNavy
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They have no powers, they merely record the numbers and report them to the police, should you come to the police's notice more than one, then you may recieve a visit / letter about your behaviour.

Although having seen some of the cowboys using the radar guns should I recieve a letter from the police, I'd be threatening libel / slander.  One occasion I saw them  fireing the gun from car to car and then over moving cars, to try to get everyone.

So,

A. They weren't holding the gun steady in use, so there own movement can add  to the vehicles speed.

B, They were firing over moving other vehicles, and contrary to many peoples belief  the laser  / radar on them is not a parallel beam, but spreads,  which is one of the reasons there is also a maximum range..

 

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That part the road between the island at Norwich road and the national speed limit sign has a 30 limit but very few people go 30. I walk the dog there and am very cautious especially were  the road bends.

Good on them for taking time out to raise awareness.  The attitude they can't do anything anyway is a bit poor.

Hopefully when the last half of the NDR opens it will lessen the traffic on that road especially the beet lorries.

John

 

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I can understand the feelings regarding speeding in villages etc by residents and those that use the roads there that are responsible, including people on foot paths etc , but really is this ever going to work ? For a start to be admitted as evidence a radar gun has to be calibrated and checked often , without a device for checking accurately the speed of a vehicle then it becomes one persons word against another's and wouldn't IMHO be persuaded by the CPS , given that the vast majority of speed cameras don't actually work as they are turned off I'm beginning to think speeding is being ignored , the problem with people doing their own policing of the roads is they have no enforcement and could easily if they pick on the wrong person start a situation that's going to require police assistance ! , just the same as reporting a speeding boat really , there's nothing the authorities can do as there is no evidence that's admissible in court , they can however write to the said drivers after checking their address on the database but how much police time is this costing ? Surely there are better things the police could be doing ? 

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I had a letter from the police after being caught by just such a community speed watch group. I wasn't much over the limit, but if that had been the difference between stopping in time or running down a child then it would have been a painful thing to have to live with.

Most accidents are in built up areas, so good on them for trying to make their community safer, with the obvious caveat that they should be taught to use the equipment properly.

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Yes children walk to school down this road, the speed I see some people flying through is madness.

Some folk are the first to moan when a boat goes 1mph over the speed limit on the rivers but then think it's  ok to do 40mph in a 30 limit?

Opening the EDP on a daily basis there is a bad accident somewhere in the area  with loss of lives or serious injuries (I would guess that the majority speed related.

Again these people are just trying to raise awareness 

John

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10 minutes ago, Jbx5 said:

a bad accident somewhere in the area  with loss of lives or serious injuries (I would guess that the majority speed related.

Speed doesn't kill , but people who cant handle it do!....... When I learnt to drive the white circular disc with the diagonal black band indicated NO SPEED LIMIT ............ I'll agree most accidents are in 30mph limits, but its not speed that causes them, (a) Bad driving, playing with a phone, radio, satnav, shouting at the kids in the back or just day dreaming. (b) Badly maintained vehicle, including tyres, brakes and lights.

Gets off soap box

Charlie

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1 hour ago, Davydine said:

I had a letter from the police after being caught by just such a community speed watch group. I wasn't much over the limit, but if that had been the difference between stopping in time or running down a child then it would have been a painful thing to have to live with.

Most accidents are in built up areas, so good on them for trying to make their community safer, with the obvious caveat that they should be taught to use the equipment properly.

 but if that had been the difference between stopping in time or running down a child then it would have been a painful thing to have to live with.

 

 

Just a 2 feet shorter stopping distance would be sufficient difference between stopping in time or running into someone.

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Just now, smellyloo said:

Speed may not cause the accident but speed definitely inflicts the fatal injury.

Absolutely, Lou.

It's the magic energy formula, M x V2. Mass is constant but look at how the V2 looks: 

  • At 20 mph it's 400 velocity units
  • At 30 mph it's 900 velocity units 
  • At 40 mph it's 1600 velocity units

Between 20mph and 30mph that extra10 mph doubles the energy you inflict on that child!

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Guest ExMemberKingFisher
23 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

Speed doesn't kill , but people who cant handle it do!....... When I learnt to drive the white circular disc with the diagonal black band indicated NO SPEED LIMIT ............ I'll agree most accidents are in 30mph limits, but its not speed that causes them, (a) Bad driving, playing with a phone, radio, satnav, shouting at the kids in the back or just day dreaming. (b) Badly maintained vehicle, including tyres, brakes and lights.

Gets off soap box

Charlie

Sorry have to disagree there. If a child runs out in front of you giving you no time to react then whether you "can handle the speed" or not becomes irrelevant. The speed you were doing before you hit the child is the only thing that matters. Also consider the car that suddenly pulls out in front of you, or suddenly swerves over your side of the road, makes no difference whether you "can handle the speed" the resulting impact will be the sum of your combined speeds. Speed does kill, doing the correct speed is less likely to kill.

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37 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

When I learnt to drive the white circular disc with the diagonal black band indicated NO SPEED LIMIT ..

when I learnt to drive that sign meant national speed limit applies - this is 70mph for dual carriageways and 60mph for normal roads, nowadays it seems that people see this as 70mph or whatever they can get away with (especially on motorways.

I recently had a motorcyclist nearly run in to the back of my car, I had totally misjudged his speed and pulled out after indicating to overtake a lorry (I was doing 70mph indicated - so maybe 68mph) I saw him in the mirror in the far distance - pulled out and he was right there - his speed must have been in excess of 100mph, he then overtook me and turned to look at me and shake his head. I was within a few mph of the speed limit, so had he been doing even just a few mph faster than the limit, he could not have come up that fast. 

On a daily basis driving on the motorways I am doing at or near the limit, yet it seems as though everyone is streaming past. now motorways are safer, but these people take the same mentality onto side roads and through towns, where they are not segregated from the rest of the traffic an pedestrians. 

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1 minute ago, High6 said:

Two stone child runs into two ton car. Regardless of speed the car will win. The trick is to separate child traffic from car traffic at the school gate.

Well yes, but if the car is traveling slowly then we are talking cuts and bruises, the faster the car the more severe the injuries.

 

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42 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

Speed doesn't kill , but people who cant handle it do!....... When I learnt to drive the white circular disc with the diagonal black band indicated NO SPEED LIMIT ............ I'll agree most accidents are in 30mph limits, but its not speed that causes them, (a) Bad driving, playing with a phone, radio, satnav, shouting at the kids in the back or just day dreaming. (b) Badly maintained vehicle, including tyres, brakes and lights.

Gets off soap box

Charlie

Has that sign ever really been ‘no speed limit’? I only ever remember it being ‘national speed limit’ which was once 70mph but is now 60mph on single carriageway roads. I totally agree about lack of concentration being the main culprit in an accident, you only have to look at some of the trucks hammering down our motorways and see what the drivers are doing!! 

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I do believe the original question was what powers does a community speed check have , and the answer is very little .

10 yrs or so back I was dam nearly taken out by a range rover in a built up 30 mph area , had it not been for a police officer parked on the corner of a side street she would have probably got away with her offences which in court read , failing to stop at a red traffic light , using a mobile device while driving and excessive speed which the officer claimed at around 50 mph , had that been a pedestrian with even a photo of the incident I very much doubt it would have even got to court , and here's the best bit she had he two children in the back of the vehicle , sure she got heavily fined and receive  a 6 month ban but the fact is without the assistance of the police and relying on the public she would have most likely got off Scot free .

Now I don't condone speeding in any manner but community spped check's don't create evidence that can be use , as I've previous said radar guns are need to be calibrated frequently as are the BA ones too are theses guns calibrated ? .

Education is what is required not vigilante's enforcement of the law is the police's job .

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Just now, vanessan said:

I only ever remember it being ‘national speed limit’ which was once 70mph but is now 60mph on single carriageway roads

I can assure it was a no speed limiit sign if I remember correctly it changed to 70MPH in about 1969. The 60mph for it came in much much more recently

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7 minutes ago, High6 said:

Two stone child runs into two ton car. Regardless of speed the car will win. The trick is to separate child traffic from car traffic at the school gate.

Exactly and education of children too is highly important .

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5 minutes ago, vanessan said:

Has that sign ever really been ‘no speed limit’? I only ever remember it being ‘national speed limit’ which was once 70mph but is now 60mph on single carriageway roads. I totally agree about lack of concentration being the main culprit in an accident, you only have to look at some of the trucks hammering down our motorways and see what the drivers are doing!! 

When the M1was first opened there was no speed limit on that motorway .

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7 minutes ago, Ricardo said:

Exactly and education of children too is highly important .

When my kids were little before school age, they were taught to look both ways and then left again before crossing. What makes people think that kids need to be molly coddled, mind a lot of parents these days need to be or they end up dead through no common sense. H/S is its own worst enemy. I could go on and on but I wont.

Going back to the OP how many accidents do these vigilantes cause by making people brake hard causing crashes. Ah cos they dont bother with them stats do they?????

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