Community Speedwatch (CSW) is a road safety initiative managed by Kent Police, and run by local volunteers. The volunteers monitor the speeds of vehicles using approved ‘speed indication devices’ (SIDs), and report any travelling at or above the enforcement threshold. Typically, the enforcement speed is the speed limit plus 10% plus 2mph, so for a 30mph road it is 35mph.
Typically, a roadside session lasts for one hour, but this can be determined by the volunteers at the roadside. Kent Police Speedwatch provide the third-party insurance cover, hi-visibility jackets, and access to their website to report speeding offences. In order to set-up a CSW scheme, the following criteria must be met:
- it must be for roads with speed limits of 20, 30 or 40 miles per hour (mph)
- at least one resident should want to volunteer, but ideally, there should be between 2 to 20 volunteers
- volunteers must be aged 18 years and over
- volunteers must undertake online training to give them insurance cover when at the roadside
- speed monitoring must be set-up on locations that are safe and suitable for all road users and volunteers
- Speed monitoring must take place at locations that are risk-assessed and pre-approved by Kent Police Speedwatch
- the local parish council should be made aware and kept informed of all plans
Shorne already has one Community Speedwatch scheme, where local volunteers carry out Speedwatch sessions in The Ridgeway, Pear Tree Lane, Tanyard Hill, and Thong Lane. If you would like to set up a scheme to monitor speeds in your own local roads in Shorne, please visit https://www.kent.police.uk/speedwatch.
Shorne Parish Council owns a portable SID, and will make it available for use by trained Community Speedwatch volunteers at locations in Shorne approved by Kent Police.
