Shop the speeders villagers are asked

Aug 18 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

POLICE came under fire last night for encouraging people living in a Northumberland village to shop speeding drivers.

Opponents of the scheme which is being piloted at Swarland, near Alnwick, say it is open to error and abuse.

If successful, the Northumbria Police initiative could be rolled out regionwide.

But those who disagree with the scheme fear people could falsely report someone they do not like – given that this can be done anonymously – and also argue the naked eye could not tell the difference between a car travelling at 29 miles per hour and one travelling just over 30mph.

The initiative encourages people living in Swarland to make notes of speeding cars. They are asked to write down registration numbers, the gender of the driver, date and time.

These details can then be reported anonymously to police who will issue a letter to the alleged offender and store their details on a database. A person reported twice will receive a visit from the police and after a third time, will receive ‘target vehicle status,’ whereby police will look out for their car or van while on patrol.

Last night, Ian and Beccy Mordue, of Lanton Close, Swarland, were concerned that people who are not trained to spot speeders are being given such powers.

Beccy, 54, said: “How on earth do they know what speed they are doing? Could there be some vendettas going on in the village? You could be doing 28mph, how would anyone know unless they had a speed gun? I just think that it is open to abuse and error.”

Ian, 60, who works at HMRC tax office in Longbenton, is concerned that the scheme could be abused by “someone with an axe to grind” against another villager. He added: “It seems it would be left up to ordinary people to decide whether someone was speeding which did not seem right to me.

“They might have not experience of driving. It seemed a bit odd. You could be doing 20mph through the village and someone says you are doing 30mph.

“I have lived there about 19 years and I would not have thought speeding was a problem at all. Most people go quite carefully through the village but obviously someone disagrees.”

Police came up with the scheme following complaints in recent years from Newton on the Moor and Swarland Parish Council about speeding on The Avenue and Park Road in Swarland, where residential streets quickly turn into open country roads and where there is a shortage of speed limit signs.

The area has been scene of an accident around 10 years ago in which two people were killed at a crossing beside the village school, and a series of minor scrapes and near misses.

A range of speed calming measures had been explored by the council, but none were considered acceptable by highways authorities. There was talk of councillors being given speed guns but members felt this was too extreme.

Alnwick Neighbourhood Inspector Sue Peart last night said the scheme had been based on Neighbourhood Watch and other similar projects, which rely on the community helping police.

She said: “This is not about taking enforcement action against motorists, but educating them and encouraging people to drive safely through the village. However if a vehicle is regularly being brought to our attention clearly we have a duty to investigate.

“The co-ordinators of the scheme are responsible members of the community, such as councillors, and as with all information which is passed to police as part of a ‘watch’ scheme, there has to be an element of trust that it is accurate and given in good faith.

“Initial feedback from villagers is that the scheme has already had a positive impact in reducing the number of people speeding through Swarland and once it's been evaluated it may be rolled out to other villages.”

Parish councillor Mike Shirley, who lives on Park Road, said the council favoured the “softly softly” approach.

He added: “As everywhere in the country we had the boy racers and the idiots. Something had to be done. We are not interested in the lass that is late to get her children to school and doing 35mph, we are interested in the idiot that is doing 75mph and dangerous.”

Cautious backing

THE scheme was last night given cautious backing by Alison Brown, whose fiancee Gwyn Price was killed by a speeding driver exactly four years ago today.

Taxi driver Mr Price, 29, was involved in a head-on collision with a vehicle which had been racing another car on Newcastle’s Central Motorway in August 2004.

Alison, 32, of Half Moon Street, Stakeford, Northumberland, had three children, Adam, Grace and Holly, with Mr Price.

She welcomed the initiative but conceded it could be open to abuse.

Alison said: "There are two sides of the coin, people could be malicious and do it.

"Personally it is something I would support, there is nothing more infuriating where people have been racing.

"That would prompt me to call the police.

"The overall picture is that it might put the frighteners on people, if it stops one person speeding and saves one life, it will have been worthwhile."

The scheme is being trialled in Swarland and should it prove successful it may be rolled out to other villages in the force area.