Road Safety in Brailes
Community Speed Watch
Playing a crucial role to help keep our village safer for all road users
In case you wondered why a Community Speed Watch (CSW) team has appeared throughout Brailes regularly for the last 12 months the answer is simple – it’s because a number of motorists persist in failing to acknowledge the speed limit in a built-up area, risking not only theirs’ but other peoples’ lives too.
Evidence-based analysis:
According to the Department for Transport a safe road system is one that has an appropriate speed limit given the surroundings. This should be guided by the knowledge of the human body’s tolerance to external forces. DfT studies show that reductions in average speed result in substantial casualty reduction in the event of an accident. Vulnerable road users are at a particular risk from higher traffic speeds. The risk of a pedestrian being killed if hit by a car increases from 10% at 30mph to 70% at 50 mph.
Data relating to all vehicles that travel through Brailes is recorded by the two static cameras at either end of the village twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The data shows that on average 48,000 vehicles travel through Brailes every month. 6500 of these are speeding which is more than 210 vehicles every single day. In the month of April alone, 110 vehicles were recorded exceeding 50 mph!
As the camera data shows, the vast majority of motorists do drive within the speed limit. However, it’s the drivers who ignore all the warnings and persistently exceed the speed limit who pose the greatest risk to life that the CSW team are trying to help make more aware of their speed and the potential consequences.
In recent weeks a couple of motorists have stopped and asked the CSW team what they are trying to achieve and why they operate where they do. So again it’s worth making clear the only reason CSW teams operate is because speeding continues.
The CSW team are unpaid village residents who volunteer their time freely in the hope of making these errant drivers be more conscious of their speed and adhere to the speed limit for the safety of everyone. Each volunteer is approved by Warwickshire Police and there are strict operational guidelines that are followed; including the number of volunteers that are required for each speed monitoring event, which is between 3 – 5. Each of the locations used has also been specifically determined by the Police with Google Map photographs showing exactly where the team must operate. As a result of this the Police can track the speeding data and take the necessary action; including visiting persistent speeders wherever in the Country they may live. The CSW team derive no pleasure out of monitoring vehicle speeds; the hope is that by being seen frequently, motorists become more conscious of their speed and drive accordingly.
The area around the Primary School in the village is the most worrying and action has been taken to look at all options to make this safer for children and parents to be able to walk to school and cross the road. More details of our proposed School Safety Zone along with other permanent traffic calming measures for the village will be announced very soon.
In the meantime the CSW team are doing a great job and would like to recruit more volunteers. If you can spare an hour or so a month and would like to join the CSW team or have any views on the speeding situation, please let us know by email to: brailesparishclerk@outlook.com. Your support and feedback would be most welcome.
How We Work Collaboratively
Police were seen active in Lower Brailes recently after Warwickshire Police announced an increase in resource and the number of traffic speed enforcement vehicles. The new vehicles are fitted out with the latest mobile camera technology that will be deployed at over 70 sites across the county.
As well as using the police vans’ visible presence to slow down traffic and educate road users on appropriate legal speeds, the vans will be strategically positioned using data from Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership with the aim of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads.
The vans are fitted with state-of-the-art technology including:
Brailes Road Safety Improvement Plan
Plans are progressing to introduce a School Safety Zone to make the area around the school safer for everyone to cross the road. The first stage of the plan is to install warning signs that advise drivers to slow down to 20mph when the lights are flashing during school term drop-off and pick-up times. Further physical traffic calming measures are necessary and expected to follow.
The two static cameras record over 200 vehicles exceed 35mph every day!
Impatient drivers have been noted overtaking vehicles throughout the village.
As we reported last month, the area around the Primary School is our number one priority because children are constantly being put at risk crossing the road. The School has reported several near-miss incidents in recent times where it’s been more luck than judgement that a child has not been seriously injured crossing the road outside the school gates!
The School Safety Zone project will be funded by a combination of means including a government grant that is available for improving road safety. Financial support will also come via the Parish Council as well as generous donations from the public. Many local initiatives have begun to help raise money for the cause. It is also hoped some of the businesses in the village will also consider making a donation so they too can be associated with helping to improve road safety. We all have a vested interest to make this happen.
There are lots of adverts on television from numerous charities asking for our money and there’s no doubt all are good causes whether in this country or abroad, however this is a request for your help to protect OUR children in OUR village at OUR school.
The Brailes School Safety Zone Crowdfunding page is up and running, so please help if you can. Even the cost of a cup of coffee will help us make a big and long overdue difference.
-> OUR CROWD-FUNDING APPEAL
(https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/brailes-school-safety-zone)
If you are able to help us improve the safety of everyone but especially our next generation, please do get in touch by email to: brailesparishclerk@outlook.com.
The Community Speed Watch (CSW) team will continue to monitor vehicle speeds through the village every week to help remind drivers of their speed. The static speed cameras in Lower and Upper Brailes record all traffic speed data 24/7 and the monthly reports obtained from the cameras show that 30% of all vehicles recorded are exceeding 35mph.
A ‘1st level’ warning letter is sent to speeding drivers reported for the first time. The 2nd offence letter is much more severe and states consequences if speeding persists.
Over 230 vehicles are still speeding every single day! Most importantly the data shows the time of day when these vehicles most often exceed the speed limit and so this is what is being used to determine our CSW activity and for the Police to attend with their detection vehicles in the village, day or night!
