Dry Drayton Community Speedwatch
The road through Dry Drayton village and Scotland Farm provides a busy north-south connection around Cambridge and is used by some 4,000 vehicles every day, including HGVs. Many drivers exceed the 30-mph limit, thus making the road hazardous for villagers, cyclists, equestrians, pets, and children. Areas of particular concern are Hill View on Oakington Road toward the A1307/A14 and Scotland Farm toward the A428 where speeds above 50-mph are, unfortunately, common.
Dry Drayton’s Community Speedwatch volunteers work in two ways:
With Cambridgeshire Police
Three volunteers set up a Speed Indicator Device (SID) for an hour to monitor speed and report vehicles exceeding the 30-mph limit by 5-mph or more. The Police then send letters to registered keepers of offending vehicles, explaining the potential risks and consequences of their dangerous behaviour. Repeat offenders will be visited by the Police and could face criminal prosecution.
With Dry Drayton Parish Council
Using our Mobile Vehicle-Activated Sign (MVAS) to alert drivers to their speed and gather data. Two volunteers move the sign between selected locations each month and exchange its batteries every eight days. The data informs Cambridgeshire County Council Highways and Cambridgeshire Police of speeding issues and can guide investment in traffic calming measures and police enforcement.
Can you help?
We have some brilliant volunteers within Dry Drayton, but more are needed, particularly at Scotland Farm. We organise times to meet at the road with the SID or MVAS using a mix of email, Doodle polls and WhatsApp messages. It would be good to have enough volunteers for a roadside session at least once each week. Health and Safety, risk assessment, insurance, training etc. are all taken care of.
Dry Drayton Cares
Our role is passive observation. We aim to educate drivers about their speed. Slow down!
Further information
Refer to the Cambridgeshire Police web site
Within Dry Drayton contact Chris Turner chris@turner-bilton.com
One of the new Dry Drayton MVAS, with, left to right, Chris Turner Dry Drayton Speedwatch Co-ordinator, Stephen Aldersley, Chair Dry Drayton Parish Council and Becca Sewell-Johnston, Speedwatch Volunteer.