An initiative developed by the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP) has reached a landmark in its continuing efforts to reduce speeding.

The scheme, called Parish Link, allows parish councils that experience a high number of speeding drivers to request a mobile Speed Indicating Device (SID) for their area to remind drivers of the correct speed. Recently, the initiative had its 150th SID placed in the county after three years of hard work on the part of Advocate Adrian Jones.

Ady has been delivering SIDs throughout the county to raise drivers' awareness of low speed zones on parish roads.

Once a SID is requested from the road safety partnership, Ady delivers it along with health and safety training, showing volunteers how erect and dismantle the SIDs and complete a site survey to ensure they are placed safely for drivers, volunteers and the public.

The SIDs are then operated by volunteers from the community for the duration of their placement within the parish. They work by displaying the speed of approaching vehicles followed by the appropriate message to drivers who are exceeding the limit.

The Parish Link initiative was developed by the LRSP to address community traffic concerns.

But it really picked up steam when Ady was seconded into the team and began to coordinate it and develop the project to its full potential. Since then, the partnership has been actively approaching parishes with the scheme and offering the SIDs free of charge to improve road safety and reduce speeding on parish roads.

Ady said: "Lincolnshire has approximately 538 parishes and almost all of them say they have trouble with speeding drivers. Going 35 mph in a 30mph zone can get you points on your license and a minimum £60 fine, so the SIDs act as a sort of 'freebie' reminder to slow down."

He added: "The reason it is so important for people to keep their speed down is that if a child was hit by a car going 35 mph, there is an 80 per cent chance that child will not live. But if a child was hit by a car travelling at 30 mph, there's an 80 per cent chance that child will live.

"We want people to obey the speed limits - they're there for a reason - and the SIDs just make drivers better aware of their speed."

 

Posted September 2nd, 2011 at 0905 by Andrew. Comment by emailing: andrew.lynch@pavpub.com