Volunteers Take Stand Against Speeding Drivers

Volunteers helping to catch speeding drivers in Woodley have been praised — and there are claims people are “flying down” one of the main roads.

Prosecution of speeding is carried out by roads policing officers using cameras, but enforcement can be hard in urban streets that aren’t camera-covered. The national community speedwatch scheme lets volunteers use detection devices and send speeding data to Thames Valley Police for action.

An update on the scheme was given at Woodley Town Council’s planning and community committee on Tuesday, February 3.

Councillor Greg Bello called for more monitoring, naming Miles Way and Mowhawk Way, and said neighbours had reported speeding on the A4 Shepherds Hill, which links Woodley, Earley and East Reading. Cllr Bello (Labour, Loddon South) said: “I asked them to help with radar teams, which have been active in Woodley, recently in Shepherd’s Hill. They’ve been catching a few people flying down there.

“I’d like to request that community speedwatch do some work in that area if it’s at all possible.

“I’m  also liaising and putting pressure on borough council highways officers to see what can be done with those particular roads.”

Cllr David Bragg (Conservative, Coronation Central), who helps co‑ordinate speedwatch volunteers, said monitoring has taken place in Church Road and Colemansmoor Road. He said: “I think we caught one person, even though comments had come in about speeding problems.

“Quite often, it depends upon what type of vehicle it is.

“With cars that have loud exhausts, people have a general impression than they are going faster than they actually are, exactly the same with modern cars, that the impression is that they are going faster than they really are.

They [volunteers] actually haven’t picked up any major speeding offence. If a Fiesta goes down the road at 30mph, probably people wouldn’t notice. If an M3 BMW three-litre goes down there, the noise of the engine at 30mph would give the impression that they are speeding. This is where people pick up and say there is a speeding problem.

Bragg did admit there is a speeding issue in Mowhawk Way and encouraged volunteers to carry out monitoring there.

On Colemansmoor Road, Cllr Bill Soane (Conservative, Loddon South) said: “The first part coming off Bader Way is perhaps the area you can speed, although the road surface is so bad, you’re more likely to take off on some of the humps and bumps!

“The second part has got its own speed restrictions because of the parked cars when you get further down.”

Cllr Bello is also a Wokingham Borough councillor for Loddon ward.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter