Motorists have been clocked travelling at speeds of up to 90mph along a country road near Burnham-On-Sea by a new road safety campaign that is being funded by three local parish councils.
East Huntspill, Mark and Burnham Without Parish Councils have teamed up to jointly buy a £3,000 speed indicator device (SID) to record speeds of traffic.
Vehicles travelling along the Mark Causeway through Watchfield have been monitored by the speed indicator device (SID), a hi-tech unit that flashes vehicles’ speed to encourage drivers to observe the 30mph limit in built-up areas.
“It’s not about trying to catch drivers out or get them prosecuted. The unit clocks up the number of speeding vehicles and builds a body of evidence for choosing and lobbying for lower speed limits if necessary,” says the council’s Alistair Gordon.
Alistair told Burnham-On-Sea.com that the figures from the Speed Indicator Device located on the Watchfield Green opposite the Watchfield Inn have uncovered some alarming results.
“The average vehicle speed clocked has been 35-38mph but the results over three months have found the highest speed recorded was 90mph which was exceptional.”
“A few vehicles travelling at 85mph have been recorded too but the vast majority travel between 30 and 40 mph – with 15% total over 40mph.”
He added: “The highest speeds recorded are in the mid-afternoon and early each morning. We have found that 20% of total vehicles exceed this limit and speed on average.”
“Approximately 20,000 vehicles a week have been clocked one-way on the B3129 at Watchfield and we found 200-300 vehicles pass per hour, leading to approx 3000+ per day.”
Several other locations on the B3129 are available for the device and the council are awaiting approval from Somerset County Council to monitor a stretch of the A38 from Isleport to Edithmead.
