SPEEDING DRIVERS CLOCKED

SPEEDING drivers in Westwood Heath are being targeted by residents using speed guns.

A section of Westwood Heath Road, between Cromwell Lane and Bockendon Road, is a 30mph zone, but motorists are regularly thundering past at speeds nearly double the limit.

To tackle the problem, residents have teamed up with West Midlands Police and have been using speed guns to clock fast cars all this week.

Residents and police community support officers have been monitoring traffic between 8am and 10am and then again at 3.30pm to 6pm since Monday.

In the first two sessions – held at peak times on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning – 122 drivers were clocked travelling at 35mph or above, with the fastest clocked at 57mph.

The community speed watch week, which finishes on Saturday, is spearheaded by PC Tony Ashton, of the Westwood neighbourhood policing team, who has welcomed residents’ interests.

“I have been made aware by residents that some vehicles are travelling in excess of the 30mph speed limit,” he said.

“It can be quite appealing for motorists to speed – it’s a long, straight road that only has houses on one side. But that’s not an excuse to break the limit.”

In the past three years there have been four accidents near Cromwell Lane.

The Times joined the team on Monday where about 70 vehicles were recorded travelling at 35mph or above.

Diane Holden, 52, a driver and Mike Holden, 54, a director, moved into the street almost three years ago.

They said: “As soon as we moved here we realised it was a fast road. We are on it every day and people are always speeding down it.

“It’s dangerous because there are children, people walking pets and other motorists that are at risk from speeding drivers.

“Hopefully our clear presence will send out a message to those drivers to be aware of their speed to stop future accidents.”

A ‘football’ system of notices has been created to warn drivers caught breaking the limit – speeding drivers will first receive a ‘yellow’ letter, then if they are caught again they get a ‘red’ letter warning them.

A third time means action will be taken.

Councillor David Skinner, (Con, Westwood), said: “For as long as I can remember this road has always caused problems.

“On one occasion two drivers were racing down Westwood Heath Road, one on either side of the road. If anyone was attempting to cross the road they would’ve been killed.

“Something needs to be done, I know the junction cannot be re-built because the costs would be absolutely astronomical, it would run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“But surely there must be a cheaper option.”

Coventry City Council, which maintains the city’s roads, said the accident rate is not high enough for any intervention.

Paul Boulton, highways network manager, said: “Our intervention level is six accidents in three years, but four accidents is not something to be ignored.

“The junction near Cromwell Lane is in a Y shape, which is not one we use anymore.

“If that road was to be built now it would be in the T shape.

“Any work like that will require a minimum of £20,000 and depending on how much work under the road would need to be done, for example, if we disturb drains or power lines, could mean the figure goes up to what Cllr Skinner quoted.

“There are hundreds of other roads in Coventry that need work on first, but if we had extra money then it’s certainly something we can look at.

“In the meantime a short term solution could be to improve line markings and have warning signs.”

This year the city council has £350,000 to spend on improving city roads.

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