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.