Educating motorists on safe speeds was the aim of a day of action across Kent involving 313 Speedwatch volunteers.
On Friday 26 July 2024, more than 300 volunteers from Community Speedwatch were stationed across the county with the aim of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on Kent’s roads.
Community Speedwatch has 1,474 volunteers and is an educational alternative to enforcement, with warning letters sent to registered owners of vehicles who are exceeding the speed limit.
Throughout the day 56 teams from the across the county held sessions in 113 locations which resulted in a total of 1,237 vehicles were seen exceeding speed limits which were added to the Speedwatch database.
512 motorists were sent warning letters with 7 letter hand delivered, and 1 active enforcement.
So far this year, the Speedwatch team have dedicated 9,730 hours to watching at the roadside and observed 18,111 drivers speeding. In incidents like this, drivers can receive a letter or be visited by an officer. All the information is passed to police to assess and consider, especially when organising where to carry out speed enforcement campaigns.
Kent Police’s Community Speedwatch Manager Alan Watson said:
‘Events like these demonstrate our commitment to tackling drivers who don’t follow the rules of the road, in partnership with local communities.
‘Those who choose to volunteer in policing and give up their own time are valued members of the team and their involvement in events like this help to not only educate drivers of the dangers of speeding but also tackle those offences throughout their own neighbourhoods.‘Their dedication to volunteering is always hugely appreciated and is an important part of helping keep our local communities safe.’
For more information about starting or joining a local Speedwatch group please visit www.kent.police.uk/speedwatch or email speedwatch@kent.police.uk