Educating drivers on safe speeds was the aim of dozens of Speedwatch volunteers who took part in Brake Road Safety Week 2017.
The week ran from 20 to 26 November and was organised by Brake, a national road safety charity that works to prevent road death and injury, make streets and communities safer, and supports the victims of road collisions.
This year the theme was Speed Down Save Lives and Kent Speedwatch volunteers were quick to take up the challenge to spread the message.
Forty five Speedwatch teams from across the county held sessions from Brasted to Thanet.
A total of 1,046 vehicles were spotted exceeding the speed limits and were added to the Speedwatch database.
Taking action
- 181 drivers have been sent letters warning them about their speed.
- 87 drivers have been sent excessive speeder letters because they were travelling at 50 per cent or above the speed limit.
- Two speeding drivers have received hand-delivered warning letters from Kent Police, triggered because they’ve been detected speeding on at least four different occasions.
- One vehicle is now being researched for enforcement action.
- 16 vehicles have been reported to the DVLA as their vehicle tax had expired.
Alan Watson, Community Speedwatch manager for Kent Police, said: “It was a really worthwhile week, with volunteers supporting Kent Police and tackling speeding in their own communities.
“Across the county we have about 1,000 trained volunteers who operate Speed Indication Devices at around 1,700 different locations.
“The primary aim of Speedwatch is to educate drivers, but enforcement action can be taken against drivers who ignore our warnings.
“Having said that, we have found that almost 90 per cent of speeding vehicles are not detected a second time in Kent by any Speedwatch scheme in the following 12 months after the first observation.”
If you want to find out more about Kent Community Speedwatch email [email protected], phone 01622 653781 or click here.
Christmas crackdown
Meanwhile motorists are being urged to enjoy the festivities responsibly during Kent Police’s annual Christmas crackdown on drink and drug driving which started on 1 December.
Specialist officers from Kent’s Road Policing team are targeting motorists through the use of ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) and will also be working alongside local officers, using their local knowledge to target suspected drink/drug drivers across the county.
For more information about the dangers of drink/drug driving click here.