Campaigners in Warminster are calling for more volunteers to form Community Speedwatch groups after being told some roads don’t qualify for speed limit reductions.
The move follows the results of the most recent metro counts carried out recently on two roads in Warminster to measure traffic speeds.
In Westbury Road, the average speed recorded was 37mph in the 40mph zone between September 30 and October 8.
Up to 73,851 vehicles were counted and of these, 23.6 per cent were exceeding the speed limit.
However, 85 per cent of the traffic was travelling at under 41.5mph, which means the location doesn’t qualify for any further action.
In West Parade, the average speed over the same period was 23.66mph in the 30mph speed limit zone on the road. Up to 12,790 vehicles were counted with just 8.8 per cent exceeding the speed limit.
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Up to 85 per cent of traffic was travelling at under 28.47mph, which again means the location doesn’t qualify for any further action.
A Warminster Town Council spokesperson said: “Almost all the roads that have speed checks show results similar to this.
“The majority of people are sticking to the speed limit. It can be frustrating as even a small percentage speeding can be dangerous and worrying.”
The council said that Wiltshire Police will only take enforcement action if 15 per cent of traffic is exceeding 50mph in a 40mph area or 42mph in a 30mph area.
Warminster town councillor James Kirkwood is calling for more volunteers to help form Community Speedwatch groups for roads known to have speed issues.
Since 2017, Victoria Road and Imber Road have both been eligible to apply for the Community Speedwatch scheme.
Cllr Kirkwood said: “We are going to arrange some Community Speedwatch events but the dates haven’t been fixed yet.
“I’ve already got five or six people interested but we would like more volunteers because the more we have the more roads we can cover.
“We have had several incidents in Deverill Road, including cars going into railings and one car actually overturned a few weeks ago.”
The council says a community speedwatch programme may be introduced if 15 per cent of traffic is travelling between 46.1mph and 49.9mph in a 40mph area or between 35.1mph and 41.9mph in a 30mph area.
But the town council spokesperson added: “Neither of the two areas surveyed qualifies for a community speedwatch programme.”
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