FINCHAMPSTEAD residents fed up with speeding drivers are using data to prove their case.
For two-and-a-half years, people who live along the A237 Reading Road have been calling for safety improvements.
The road has been flagged as unsafe and in need of crossing areas as part of the council’s Safe Routes to School report, but improvements are yet to be put in place.
Campaigning for change, Gareth Rees has been meeting with the highways executive at the council to push for clear timelines for improvement.
Last month, he used his previous knowledge as a computer programmer and built a computer programme known as a bot that would Tweet when cars exceeded the speed limit along the 40mph stretch of road.
Using his data, Mr Rees said the council could have earnt £47,900 in speeding fines in one week, if they placed a camera along the road.
“I was working on the assumption that every car travelling 46mph or more would receive a speeding fine of £100, and the bot Tweets the hypothetical daily fine total,” he said.
The data is sourced from iOS and Android GPS tracking systems, and the highest speeds recorded were from two vehicles driving 76mph, one towards Arborfield, the other towards Eversley.
“I’m just trying to provide information for residents,” he said. “There are enough cars travelling at reasonable speed to make it a scary road to cross. Walking from your house to the pub, there is a high probability that a car will go past at a rapid speed.”
A council spokesperson said: “Speeding enforcement and the location of speed cameras are matters for Thames Valley Police. We monitor average traffic speeds, which are within the existing limit in this area.
“We have reviewed the speed limit on all A- and B-roads in the borough this year as part of our borough-wide speed limit review. This includes the A327. Results from this will be published later this autumn.”
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “We deliver targeted enforcement and education, providing a deterrent designed to make roads safer.
“We use prevention campaigns such as our “It’s Not Worth the Risk” campaign to try and ensure that all road users behave appropriately and keep themselves safe.
“Further, we carry out effective, information led patrols and engagement in partnership, to deliver a safer and more secure road network.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, this has clearly provided the force with extra challenges on resourcing, and we do rely on the public to provide information and would encourage anyone with information about speeding or poor driving to please report it so that we can gather information about a particular area and take action where appropriate.
“We would ask people to report online via our website at www.thamesvalley.police.uk/ro/report/rti/rti-b/report-a-road-traffic-incident.”
All of the speed data Mr Rees records is available in a spreadsheet on his campaign website.
