‘Must it take death to get action?’
The founder of a Cookham speedwatch group has called for the police to take more action over speeding issues in the area.
Allan McGregor founded the Cookham (Cannonbury
Bridge) Speedwatch Group over concerns of drivers speeding along the B4447.
Between January and June 2022, the group recorded 1,345 drivers travelling over the 30mph speed limit during 66 sessions, lasting 30 minutes each.
While Allan has hailed the success of his speedwatch team, he is now calling for Thames Valley Police (TVP) to do more to help with the speeding situation.
He said that, after presenting the ‘shocking’ data, at a meeting in July last year, TVP ‘accepted that a serious problem existed’.
But he said it was not until October that TVP initiated enforcement, and added that, since then, a TVP speed camera van has been seen about once a month for a ‘few hours at a time’.
Allan said he has made ‘constant requests’ to increase this frequency to ‘catch offenders and act as a deterrent’.
He added TVP won’t disclose any details of the rationale, duration, and timings for any of its enforcement campaigns, with the force citing safety reasons for not disclosing the information.
Allan said: “I’m annoyed that they’re not prepared to disclose. They’re hiding behind the police bureaucracy.
“I feel as if I’ve been really fobbed off.”
Allan added: “My speedwatch team has, like me, become increasingly disillusioned and we have lost our belief that having proven that the problem is a serious one, that it will be meaningfully addressed.”
Allan said he would like to see TVP ‘take their responsibility seriously’ and carry out a ‘proper deterrent’ to stop people from speeding.
He added: “Must it take a death or serious injury to get action and enforce the law?
In a statement, Thames Valley Police said: “Our neighbourhood policing teams and the Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit deliver targeted enforcement and education on speeding, providing a deterrent designed to make the roads safer and reduce the numbers of persons killed or seriously injured.
“Further, we carry out effective, information-led patrols and engagement in conjunction with our partners to deliver a safer and more secure road network.
“We appreciate there have been concerns around speeding on the B4447 and over recent months, pre-planned operations have been in force along with mobile speed cameras. These are short-term measures, which are not always possible with current policing demands.
“The Neighbourhood Policing Team is working with partner agencies with a view of looking at long-term solutions to prevent these offences from being committed.
“We would continue to encourage members of the public to report any incidents of speeding or anti-social driving to us so we can continue to build up an intelligence picture and target areas where there is the greatest risk.”