Innovative technology is being used by a trail-blazing Eden community to combat the problem of speeding vehicles.
Two AutoSpeedWatch units have now been installed in Clifton which, residents hope, will prove to be more effective at slowing down traffic than the speed indicator devices which greet drivers with a “happy” or “sad” face, depending on whether they are they are travelling below or above the 30mph limit when entering the southern end of the village.
A spokesman for Clifton Community Council said: “Unfortunately, the sad face and warning to vehicles doing more than 30mph has not deterred many from speeding through the community — including past the school, located in the middle of the village right alongside the A6.”
In 2019, residents in Clifton formed a community speed watch group and work in conjunction with Cumbria police, with officers providing training to volunteers, and a speed gun, which is shared on a rota with other communities in the county.
“Unfortunately, volunteers can not be out every day and monitoring every vehicle that passes along the busy A6,” the spokesman said.
Last year, Clifton Community Council decided it was time to look at options to complement the measures being taken to tackle speeders.
Jonathan Davies, chairman of Clifton Community Council, discovered some new, innovative technology which could automatically monitor, log and report speeding vehicles to Cumbria police.
The AutoSpeedWatch unit is a self-contained device which takes a photograph of any speeding vehicle. The registration is checked against DVLA records to see if it has a valid MoT and up-to-date tax, and make, model and colour data are checked. This is then logged with the date, time and speed.
Clifton Community Council, which has now purchased and installed two AutoSpeedWatch cameras, was the first group in the north to invest in the innovative technology.
It has now been joined by Greystoke after its parish council agreed to purchase and install an AutoSpeedWatch unit, at a cost of just over £500 each.
Mr Davies said: “By thinking outside the normal confines of what can be done and innovating with technology to help address the issue of speeding, Clifton Community Council is able to help.
“Not only in making our roads and community safer, but we also have valuable road speed data that we can use in our efforts to show to other agencies the volumes of speeding vehicles.”
He said this data would support the community’s call to Cumbria Highways to tackle speeding around and through the area.
“The volume and quality of the data we are getting from the AutoSpeedWatch system is amazing and linking this in with the community speed watch efforts means we can, as a community, proactively work to send a clear message that Clifton does not accept speeding and the dangers that it poses to all.
“We would be happy to talk with any community or council who would like to see how it works.”
