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Drivers told to cut their speed
8:24am Saturday 30th August 2008
Police have launched a crackdown on speeding motorists in the Cowley area of Oxford after residents highlighted the issue as a main concern.
Officers have been monitoring drivers in roads across the area in a bid to get them to slow down.
After checking the speeds of more than 1,400 vehicles, officers have highlighted two particular hotspots, Church Cowley Road and Hollow Way - and vowed to continue cracking down on those who flout the 30mph limit.
Acting Sgt Gill Cross said: "We want to educate the public about speeding. It is our local residents that have highlighted this as a main concern."
Over several weeks, officers visited Rymers Lane, Horspath Road, Hollow Way, Bartholomew Road, Barns Road, Littlehay Road and Church Cowley Road.
A total of 35 cars were spotted driving at between 30mph and 35mph, with 12 going faster than 36mph - all of which were in Hollow Way or Church Cowley Road.
Acting Sgt Cross said: "Church Cowley Road is clearly an area of concern and Hollow Way is another one.
"Church Cowley Road is a wide road which makes people able to travel a bit quicker than on narrow roads and it is quite straight too.
"It is something we are going to have to keep an eye on. We are thinking about bring in some other partners from roads policing who will be handing out on the spot fines and we plan to revisit it regularly.
"It may be a wide road but it is still a 30mph limit and I think people maybe don't realise that. We need to educate them."
A Speed Indication Device was used to monitor traffic speed, and the owners of all cars caught breaking the limit have been written to warning them that they need to slow down or they may face prosecution.
Acting Sgt Cross said she would be talking to residents to make sure they were targeting the relevant roads at the times of day when people living there believed drivers were speeding.
She said: "By doing this regularly we want to get the message across that we take what the residents are saying seriously."
In an hour, 28 cars were caught breaking the speed limit in Church Cowley Road, nine going faster than 36mph. After an hour in Hollow Way, 13 cars were found to have exceeded the 30mph limit.
No one was caught breaking the limit in Bartholomew Road or Horspath Road, but a handful of drivers were found travelling between 30mph and 35mph in Rymers Lane, Barns Road and Littlehay Road.
Traffic has been highlighted as a new priority for neighbourhood officers in Cowley.
Acting Sgt Cross said officer were also clamping down on dangerous and obstructive parking and cycling on pavements.
She warned that operations to catch offenders were planned.
Your Say YourOxford
DanOxford, says...
1:04pm Sat 30 Aug 08
So, 99.99% of drivers were travelling below 36mph and 99.98% were drivig at or below the 30mph limit.
Shouldn't the headline be:
'Police waste time as vast majority of Oxford motorists drive within speed limit, undermining local NIMBY claims!'
DanOxford, says...
1:11pm Sat 30 Aug 08
Man of charm, Looking down from the ivory tower says...
5:33pm Sat 30 Aug 08
DanOxford wrote:More like complete butter fingers when using the calculator and then not checking your work over properly
Sorry- typos there- should be 2.5% and .9%, which still means that the local residents 'major concerns' were unfounded.
Tsk tsk
oxford bob, oxford says...
5:43pm Sat 30 Aug 08
Steve, Oxford says...
8:11pm Sat 30 Aug 08
DanOxford, says...
10:05pm Sat 30 Aug 08
Real Police officers, thoroughly trained, selected solely on the basis of their ability to do the job investigating real crime please.
Your sayYourOxford
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PCSO Wayne Southey, with PC David Scott and Acting Sgt Gill Cross
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DanOxford, says...
12:58pm Sat 30 Aug 08
A total of 35 cars were spotted driving at between 30mph and 35mph, with 12 going faster than 36mph - all of which were in Hollow Way or Church Cowley Road.
Well I think we all feel much safer knowing that several weeks of Police time resulted in 35 'offences' being uncovered, two thirds of which were travelling at less than a few miles an hour above the limit. What percentage of all traffic does this represent?
Obviously, along with the vast majority of Oxford road users and residents, I believe that the speed limits should be observed and do so myself, but this does seem yet another example of targetting motoring offences because it's easier than tackling crimes that the public have repeatedly expressed more concern about.
At least TVP seem to have moved their targets to minor speed violations rather than swabbing pub toilets. Who knows- perhaps burglary, sexual assaults, violence against the person and street robbery may be on their list at some point?