Staffordshire community group catches 90 speeding drivers

Volunteers from Stone Community Speedwatch have been praised by community leaders for their efforts to raise awareness of 30mph limits. And they revealed at a Stone Town Council meeting on Tuesday that they receive more support from residents for their work than abuse from drivers.

Tim Hodson, one of the volunteers who spoke to councillors, said: “We don’t set out to criminalise people. We are there to increase awareness of vehicle speeds and we want to enhance safety – for me that’s a really important factor.

“I think it is fair to say most drivers we log as exceeding speed are just unaware that they are speeding and probably have no wish at all to exceed the speed limit, but they are busy people and just drifted into excess speed.

“We get more thumbs up and thanks than we get abuse – it’s incredible. For every driver who is a bit demonstrative we get residents and pedestrians saying thank you very much, you’re doing a great job.

“If in a year we prevent one child being knocked off a bike and injured our work is totally worth it.”

Fellow volunteer Richard West said: “If we are on a stretch of road people respond and slow down. If they are on that road next time they will think ‘they were on that road yesterday’.

“Most of the (speeding) drivers are logged between 35 and 40mph and we have had drivers into 50 on a 30 road. They are often distracted and not aware of their speed.

“Currently we have six volunteers and we aim to do one speed watch session a week for an hour. It has to be in daylight hours and visible.

“We have several streets and busy roads and they are often near schools. We respond to requests from councillors or through media. We have to inform Staffordshire Police of our plans a few days before and we also liaise with PCSOs who often come and support us.”

The group has carried out four road monitoring sessions so far in 2022. Two took place along Stafford Road and the others were at Newcastle Road and Eccleshall Road.

In total 90 drivers were found to be exceeding the 30mph limit, with the highest speed recorded as 57mph. Volunteers also found one driver using a mobile phone.

Town councillors thanked the group for their work and offered the use of a meeting space for training new volunteers. They also highlighted roads where speeding is a concern for residents.

Councillor Ian Fordham said: “It’s really positive that Stone has public-spirited people who are prepared to give their time to improve safety of our residents.

“A number of councillors have raised concerns in the past about specific roads in town where there have been dangers posed to residents by speeding drivers, especially dangers to schoolchildren and the elderly.

“I know residents have raised concerns about Oulton Road and there have been a number of initiatives taken with highways and police. These include modified signage and road markings and I would support further action.”

Councillor Jill Hood said: “My biggest bane is school traffic – you can’t imagine some of the things I have seen.

“I have had quite a few residents contacting me about Eccleshall Road, asking if we can have a lollipop man there. A lollipop man wouldn’t be safe with the speed they are coming down Eccleshall Road. It’s 30mph and nobody observes it – it’s frightening.”

Councillor Jim Davies said: “It is a battle we are fighting in a county-wide context and there are certainly members of society who are resistant to any common sense.

“In Hilderstone we have had speed indicator devices put in and they have a good effect.”