The Beaminster Community Speed Watch (CSW) team is looking for new members to enable us to carry out more speed checks in the town. There is some information about CSW and what it does below. If you have been a member in the past and might consider re-joining the group we would welcome you. If you are interested in finding out more please contact me, Douglas Drinnan, Beaminster CSW Coordinator, [email protected] , or PC Alex Bishop, [email protected] and we will help from there. The initial joining process is a bit long winded but once that is over training is very much on the job and the role is quite straight forward.
What is Community Speedwatch?
Community Speed Watch is a partnership initiative with Dorset Police that is aimed at raising awareness and encouraging speed reduction. Reducing speed will directly contribute to help reducing accidents and will improve the quality of life for people within Beaminster. It is an opportunity for you to get involved in making the roads safer where you live.
Speed is a major factor in about a third of all traffic collisions. Each year in excess of 700 people die and more than 4,500 are injured nationally as a result of speeding.
Dorset Police is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and seriously injured through road collisions each year. Speed is one of the fatal five main contributory factors to road collisions. The others being drink/drug driving, use of mobile phone whilst driving, failing to wear a seat belt and driver distractions and careless driving.
How does Community Speed Watch work?
- Each Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) area will have a CSW Liaison Officer.
- This officer can either pro-actively recruit members of the community to take part in CSW and / or they will receive requests from the public to initiate a CSW in a given area.
- Police assurance checks will be carried out on all new volunteers.
- Once the checks have been satisfactorily completed, the Liaison Officer can provide training to the members of the public in the use of the speed checking equipment and give advice on where it can be used.
- As and when the CSW team carry out speed checks, they will record how many vehicles were checked and how many were observed exceeding the speed limit thresholds (25 mph in a 20 mph area and 36 mph in a 30 mph area and 47 mph in a 40 mph area).
- A warning letter will be sent by Dorset Police to the registered keeper on the first two occasions that their vehicle is seen exceeding the speed limit. If the vehicle is observed for a third time, an action will be sent to the local NPT for further attention.
- However, on occasions Policing Support Officers will conduct joint speed enforcement sessions alongside of Community Speed Watch groups. On these occasions Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIPS) notices will be issued to vehicles detected speeding.
More information about CSW can be found on www.DorsetRoadSafe.org.uk under the heading Enforcement & Operations.
Councillor Douglas Drinnan
