Milton Speed Watch tackle problem road

Speeding… it’s a hot topic that regularly comes up in our comments section.

You might believe a little bit of speeding is okay and shouldn’t be targeted by the police, or you might think that it is the most serious of crimes... but what’s the truth?

Speeding might not be a crime which you consider serious, but there are victims to speeding, and unfortunately the victims are usually innocent drivers or pedestrians who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The fact is, speeding does kill. In 2022, 303 people died on UK roads because drivers were travelling above the speed limit. All of those people have family, friends and loved ones left behind due to drivers choosing to go above the limit.

Our community speed watch teams across Derbyshire know the devastating effect speeding can have, and that injuries and deaths caused by speeding are always avoidable. That’s why they volunteer their time to educate those who chose to speed, as by doing so, they protect members of their community from becoming a statistic.

We joined Milton Community Speed Watch for their afternoon speed check at a site on the main road of Milton, our volunteers choose each area in response to where local communities say they need support.

The team were only there for an hour, but in that time, they checked 239 cars going through the village, 17 of which were caught speeding significantly over the speed limit.

This shows that yes, most people do drive to the speed limit, but that still doesn’t change the danger to the ones who don’t. Incredibly, ten cars were going more than 40mph in a 30mph zone, and worse than that, the road they were speeding on was next to a school at a time when children would be coming and going.

South Derbyshire officers were on hand to speak to some of those drivers who were particularly fast, with one clocking 63mph.

Policing isn’t just about tickets, it’s also about education and community involvement, and these speed sites encompass the two. Our officers will step in to ticket drivers when necessary, but we want more than that. We want to really educate drivers on why speeding does matter, and why it is something we’ll continue to target to keep Derbyshire safe.