Skip to main content

West Midlands schoolchildren help to educate speeding motorists

Pupils from Salisbury Primary School in Darlaston, West Midlands, UK, recently took part in a Community Speedwatch initiative with West Midlands Police, using a Speedwatch system supplied by UK company Traffic Technology. Under police supervision, the children were given the opportunity to read the data obtained by the Speedwatch device and relay it to the rest of the group, which transferred the information on vehicle type, colour, registration and speed to a specially-produced form. The children then used
May 25, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Pupils from Salisbury Primary School in Darlaston, West Midlands, UK, recently took part in a Community Speedwatch initiative with West Midlands Police, using a Speedwatch system supplied by UK company 561 Traffic Technology.

Under police supervision, the children were given the opportunity to read the data obtained by the Speedwatch device and relay it to the rest of the group, which transferred the information on vehicle type, colour, registration and speed to a specially-produced form.

The children then used the data in a maths lesson at school to work out means, modes, ratios and more. They will also write a letter to drivers in their English lesson to highlight how they feel about speeding and the effect it could have on them and their family. This will be sent to violating motorists, along with the official police letter.

Richard Collins of West Midlands Police, who conducted the initiative, said the equipment is ideal for community speed watch schemes, easy to use, precise and most importantly not confrontational. He continued, “I feel that is import to get members of the public involved in such schemes, particularly the children as these are the adults of the future. Not only is it a great way of building trust and confidence between police and the community  it can also be used as an aid to education.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Viaduct deck renewal creates detour dilemma for MassDOT
    May 26, 2016
    As the deck renewal of the I-91 viaduct in Springfield gets underway, David Crawford looks at the preparation and planning to ease the resulting traffic congestion. Accommodating the deck renewal of a 4km-long/four-lanes in each direction viaduct in the heart of Springfield (Massachusetts’ third largest city), has involved the state’s Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in a massive exercise in transport research and ITS-based area-wide preplanning and traffic management. Supporting a workzone of well ab
  • Workzone safety can be economically viable
    October 24, 2014
    David Crawford looks how workzone safety can be ‘economically viable’. Highway maintenance is one of the most dangerous construction industry occupations in Europe. Research from The Netherlands on fatal crashes indicates that the risk facing road workzone operatives is ‘significantly higher’ than that for the general construction workforce. A survey carried out by the Highways Agency, which runs the UK’s motorway and trunk road network, has suggested that 20% of road workers have suffered injuries from pa
  • Hard shoulder running aids uniform traffic flow and safer driving
    January 23, 2012
    David Crawford detects a market for European experience. Well-established now in at least three European countries, Hard Shoulder Running (HSR) on motorways is exciting growing interest in the US. A November 2010 Report to Congress by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), on the Efficient Use of Highway Capacity, notes the role of HSR in the European-style Active Traffic Management (ATM) strategies now being recommended for implementation in the US where, until recently, they were virtually unknown.
  • AI is creating road maintenance savings
    July 30, 2021
    Artificial intelligence is starting to create savings for hard-pressed local authorities when it comes to road maintenance. David Crawford reviews recent advances in cost and performance control