Community Speed Watch
Community Speed Watch is a traffic monitoring scheme, supported by partners within SERP. It is delivered in communities by dedicated volunteers who feel passionately about road safety in their area.
Community Speed Watch Volunteers monitor the speed of passing vehicles using a hand-held speed detection device.
The volunteers record the details of vehicles which are exceeding the speed limit by around 10%. These details are passed to the Police, who will issue a letter to the vehicle owner, advising them of the dangers of speeding, and reminding them of the law. Essex Police also use the intelligence provided by volunteers to highlight those communities that would benefit from additional police enforcement, based on evidence of poor levels of compliance. This additional enforcement is primarily conducted by officers from the Casualty Reduction Section including its own team of Special Constables.
All volunteers are required to attend quality assured training provided by SERP, comprising a presentation followed by a roadside activity.
All volunteers are required to wear hi-vis jackets and display signs approximately 100 meters (at a safe pre-assessed site) either side of the monitoring location.
The benefits of Community Speed Watch include:
- The opportunity for residents to increase road safety in their area, and support activities to reduce road traffic collisions and injuries.
- Enhancing the role of community members as volunteers and developing better links with the community.
- As Community Speed Watch volunteers are highly visible and make use of a speed detection device, it is usually clear to vehicle drivers their speed is being monitored. This may be enough deterrent for many motorists to slow down.
- The ‘community’ element of Community Speed Watch could have a more positive effect on some vehicle driver’s attitudes compared to engineering schemes.
- The letters vehicle drivers receive as a result of exceeding the speed limit may make them continue to reduce their speeds at all times.
If you are interested in forming or joining a Community Speed Watch group, please email community.speedwatch@essex-fire.gov.uk
Community Speed Watch Volunteers
For a brief video demonstration on how to correctly complete the activity log and minimise the chance of it being rejected, please click here (YouTube).
Community Speed Watch dashboard
Below is a dashboard which demonstrates the effectiveness of Community Speed Watch groups in Essex. To understand how to navigate the dashboard, here is a quick guide:
Community Speed Watch Data
Click on diagonal arrow in the bottom right to view data in full screen mode.
As from the 1st June 2022, CSW Group Co-ordinators need to complete the revised activity log in order for their activities to be actioned. A copy can be found here: https://dev.saferessexroads.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CES-Template-v10-1.xlsx