Many road related concerns for our Cornish Communities fall into the broad categories of speeding, parking or large vehicles. Unlike many other elements of this toolkit, these problems are often very visible to the community and can be chronic in nature. The common response for many communities will be to demand enforcement and a policing presence to deal with a specific location or concern. However, we have found that the short-term presence by a police officer does not have any long-term impact to the targeted behaviour, nor does the implementation of double yellow lines as this simply moves the parking problem to elsewhere in the community. Often, the answer to these chronic issues lies within the community itself and community engagement becomes the key to more holistic, long-term solutions.
Local voluntary initiatives such as Community Speedwatch and HGV Watch can provide a more regular presence and have a greater impact within a community. These activities are more sustainable and provide a more effective preventative effect on serial speeders or even serial poor parkers, than the sporadic visit of a local enforcement officer.
A driver caught speeding through a local village by somebody they know performing Community Speedwatch monitoring, will provide a much greater deterrent to future driving habits than being issued a ticket by a nameless police officer. Why? Because the police officer may issue a ticket and the payment of that fine will be done in private by the individual. However, the shame of being caught speeding by your neighbour is far more impactful in the long term.
As detailed in the local ‘Crime Prevention’ information section of this toolkit, it is vitally important to ascertain if there really is a problem that needs solving and what that problem really is. Or if there is simply the perception of a problem. Community Speedwatch and HGV Watch provide vital statistical data to inform both Police and Local authorities on the realities of the problems of speeding and oversized vehicles. This information assists Police, Local Authorities and the Highways Department in identifying whether additional enforcement or architectural design interventions are required in the local area, to reduce the problem.
There may be times when the ‘risk’ associated with one problem like speeding is mitigated by the presence of another problem such as on street parking. Think about the impact of parked cars on the ability of drivers to speed through the village. Clearing parked cars from a through road may have the unintended consequence of increased speeding on the now clear thoroughfare. So, is it appropriate to place double yellow lines in this location? Where would the parking issues be displaced to? Therefore it is so important to consider issues within a community, using community-based groups with diverse opinions and ideas. Communities are often best placed to identify and deal with many of these issues themselves when they take on the opportunity.
If your community group would like to tackle any road related concerns in your village, please see the partners below who may be able to assist you with this.
Community Speed Watch (CSW) is a national educational initiative to help people reduce speeding traffic through their community. CSW enables proactive members of local communities to join with the support and supervision of their local police, to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and to help control the problem locally. Registration to create a new group or join an existing one is carried out online using the internet based CSW Online system, which can be found here. (Registration guides attached)
Completing the registration process involves online training, once this is completed the newly created group or individual will await approval from the police.
The person creating the group is automatically created as the Group Co-ordinator (although this can be changed or additional co-ordinators added at a later stage) – once registration/online training is completed the next stage would be for a local police officer to make contact and discuss the scheme, also required at this stage (for group co-ordinators only) is completion of a permission for checks form to provide details to the local officer who will complete local checks on the Group Co-Ordinator, (not vetting) after which, all being well, the group co-ordinator can then begin recruiting others to the group, known as Group Operators.
Mobile Speed Activation Signs (MSAS) represent one of a number of tools to tackle inappropriate speeds and encourage safer driving. MSAS detect the speed of oncoming traffic using a radar device and may indicate the vehicle speed or the speed limit. They can be purchased directly by Town and Parish Councils, or through the Community Area Partnership Highway Programme with funding provided by Cornwall Council. Please contact your Town or Parish Council for further information on MSAS purchase or deployment.
Operation Snap is a secure online facility, which allows submissions of video and photographic evidence relating to driving incidents that members of the public have witnessed. Further information on Operation Snap and to submit information relating to an incident can done here.
The South West Peninsula Road Safety Partnership is a strategic and operational collaboration of organisations, committed to working with people and communities, to reduce the number and severity of personal injury collisions – particularly those resulting in death or serious injury, across the road network of Devon and Cornwall. Please see the Vision South West Road Safety Strategy for information about how to plans to achieve that.
We all have a responsibility to make the roads safer, as drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians or passengers and we can all do our bit to reduce casualties in Cornwall. Key safety advice from Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service can be found here.
is a campaign by the UK government that has been running road safety campaigns for more than 75 years. The Central Office of Information (COI) ran the government’s road safety campaigns until 2000, when THINK! was officially established as the government’s designated road safety campaign.
We want Community Area Partnerships to have a greater influence over transport schemes. CAPs have an annual budget ranging between £22,932 – £144,660 (dependant on number of Members per CAP) for smaller local transport improvements. Expressions of interest will need to be raised through your local Town/Parish Council and Cornwall Councillor for consideration. The delivery of any improvements will be subject to formal review, available funding and the necessary approvals. Further information can be found Here
Cornwall is one of the first rural areas to reduce speed limits from 30mph to 20mph on residential roads and in built-up areas. It will make roads, safer, healthier and greener for everyone.
Community support has proven integral to the successful implementation of 20mph limits elsewhere. We have created a resource pack to help spread the word and engage your community at a local level. This will support the work of the wider campaign to make Cornwall’s roads safer.
Further information on the programme and a link to the resource pack can be found here.
https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/support-and-guidance/on-the-road/speed/
The enforcement of speed limits remains the responsibility of the Police. Cornwall Council encourage speeding concerns to be raised with your local neighbourhood policing team. The contact details for your specific area can be found here.
Speeding penalties – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Speed | Devon and Cornwall Police (devon-cornwall.police.uk)
As well as reporting speeding concerns to the police, you can also report them to Cornwall Council via the following email address – [email protected] – Furthermore, problems such as potholes, damaged or missing road signs and parking issues can also be reported here.
Call 999 if you or someone else is in immediate danger, or if the crime is happening right now.
