Volunteers with speed guns 'to be deployed nationwide' to target speeding motorists
Volunteers with speed guns are to be deployed across the UK in an effort to target speeding motorists, it has been reported.
Police chiefs are currently drawing up plans to expand existing volunteer speed-gun schemes across the country, according to The Times.
Last year, it emerged that four speeding drivers are caught every minute on Britain’s roads.
There are already a number of Community Speedwatch (CSW) initiatives, where local communities are supported by police.
These volunteers are tasked with monitoring the speeds of vehicles in their area, then reporting motorists who break the limit to police.
Read more: Man who tweeted 'I am not OK’ says ‘people want good news'
Drivers caught speeding by volunteers cannot be prosecuted using this evidence, but police typically send warning letters to motorists caught more than twice. Officers may also set up their own operations at trouble areas.
Volunteers are trained and given handheld speed cameras to record vehicles, whose registrations are passed to police, usually if they exceed the speed limit by 10%.
Volunteers usually carry out their work on roads with 20mph, 30mph and 40mph speed limits.
The Times reported that Alison Hernandez, the police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall and the lead for road safety at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, is calling for the scheme to spread nationwide.
Read more: Paramedic who was knifed in chest during 999 call returns to work
In a submission to a government review into roads policing, she wrote: “There would be benefit in joining up community speedwatch schemes under a national platform, with proper governance and standards in place to allow data to be accessed and shared more readily rather than lost.”
She pointed out that the scheme “operates differently in each force area, meaning opportunities to identify repeat offences in different areas are not always picked up”.
She said: “There is great potential if these could operate to national standards and accreditation.”
But Edmund King, president of the AA, told The Times: “There are better solutions than volunteers in yellow jackets.”
He said police patrols, speed cameras, digital warning signs and traffic calming were all more effective measures.
Watch: Why tax rises may be inevitable