98mph in Mereside 30 limit - but no enforcement

Published: 11:32 AM March 18, 2009

Updated: 4:17 PM November 1, 2020

I TOTALLY agree with what Speedwatch is doing (The Hunts Post, March 11) but it should be up to the police to catch motorists speeding. After all, this is why we pay our Council Tax, a large proportion of which goes to Cambridgeshire police. If it s left

I TOTALLY agree with what Speedwatch is doing (The Hunts Post, March 11) but it should be up to the police to catch motorists speeding. After all, this is why we pay our Council Tax, a large proportion of which goes to Cambridgeshire police. If it's left to residents to catch offending motorists, the public should be reimbursed a percentage of their Council Tax.

For six years we have been complaining about the speed of traffic using Oilmills Road. The village purchased a speed gun a few years ago to gather evidence: the fastest speed recorded was 98mph through our village. If a child had stepped out in front of that vehicle, there would have been nothing left to scrape up off the floor.

The police and council are fully aware of what is going on, yet do nothing. Instead, it's left to the residents to take the abuse in the form of Speedwatch.

It's not just cars that are speeding, it's 40-tonne HCVs averaging 60mph through our 30mph village

We've reported times to the police of offending HCVs and cars, but nothing is done. While the children are waiting for the school bus in a morning and evening, traffic is hurtling through, yet we see no enforcement. The school bus has been hit twice in the last year. Three weeks before Christmas, a stationary car with two children inside was hit in the village by a speeding motorist. Where's the enforcement?

We have taken our case to the Ombudsman: the outcome was that, until we have fatalities, no action will be taken. The police can't enforce it due to lack of manpower or, when they do enforce it, they have to wear bright luminous jackets. Kind of defeats the objective.