Community Speedwatch

Speeding and dangerous driving is a topic that comes up consistently over time from residents' surveys circulated by the police on our Borough.

In response to this, the police have been running a number of Community Speedwatch (sometimes referred to as “Roadwatch” in London) events across the Borough.

How does it work?

Volunteers work with officers to monitor an agreed location for a set period of time.  Fully calibrated speed measuring equipment is used which captures a readout of the speed for the officer to verify, and any vehicle violating the speed limit is recorded by the officer on a log sheet.  Letters are then sent to those drivers warning them of the offence, but there is NO financial or points penalty on this occasion.  If the same driver is recorded exceeding the speed limit again then a second letter is sent.  A third offence would trigger alternative action by officers.

Some statistics of interest:

At a recent checkpoint in Hillingdon, 60 speeding offences were detected within 45 minutes.

In 2024, 17,589 x 1st letters were sent out; only 2 x 2nd letters; and 0 action beyond that.

In 2025 to date, over 8,000 x 1st letter have been sent out; only 1 x 2nd letters; and 0 action beyond that.

What value does Community Speedwatch add?

Community Speedwatch stats, such as the flow rate, number of vehicles exceeding the limit, speeds recorded etc are all collated to identify hotspots where further action is taken by officers at that location.  This additional information from volunteers gives a much broader data set than could be captured by officers stopping vehicles, because further stops are not being taken whilst the offender is being spoken to.  It means that traffic officers are deployed to places that will add best value in reducing excessive speeding.

How do we know it works?

During a recent activity, two drivers pulled up and spoke to the Speedwatch team and apologised to the officer, realising that they had been exceeding the speed limit.  Seeing the team by the roadside makes people think.

And finally…

Within 3 minutes of a recent activity starting, the officer could see that drivers were already adding the location of the Speedwatch activity to a well-known driving app, and this is a very common occurrence.  This information is of course of great use to drivers who habitually speed - the very drivers to whom a warning letter may give them cause to think about their driving habits, and save them from causing a fatal accident in the future…