Meeting debates use of speed guns by residents
SPEAN Bridge and Roy Bridge residents should be issued with hand-held speed guns, similar to those used by traffic police, to help combat speeding drivers.
That was the idea floated at last week’s meeting of Spean Bridge, Roy Bridge and Achnacarry Community Council.
‘It might be a way of tackling the problems on the road from Spean Bridge to Roy Bridge which is like a racetrack,’ said local resident Ian Langley, who had asked about the possibility of such a scheme.
‘It won’t be long until there is a fatal accident along there.
‘The only police presence I’ve seen dealing with speeders has been outside the Spean Bridge Hotel. I’ve never seen police officers along the stretch of the road past the campsite.’
In reply, Police Scotland’s local inspector Isla Campbell said the issue of members of the public asking to use speed guns was not insurmountable.
‘There is a couple of people I would need to speak to about it. I am aware some schemes exist,’ she explained.
‘However, folk should be aware there might be issues around things like insurance, record-keeping and the identification of drivers. You’d also have to consider safety issues stemming from people standing by the side of the road, the fact people might have to be prepared to attend court cases as witnesses and the possibility of dealing with those drivers who took umbrage over it. It would have to be a request that comes from the community – if you are keen enough.’
On another traffic issue, community council chairman John Fotheringham flagged up an incident from a few weeks ago in which a man carrying his child had been hit by the wing mirror of a carvanette as he was walking along the pavement at Spean Bridge.
Inspector Campbell said that she gets ‘umpteen calls a day’ about incidents involving camper vans and motorhomes clipping each other’s wing mirrors.
Mr Fotheringham added: ‘It has become extremely dangerous and in this instance the driver of the offending vehicle apparently didn’t even stop to see if the man was alright.
‘I don’t know if it was reported to the police but it could have resulted in a much worse accident.’