Rise in Wiltshire speeding figures down to 'better resources'
We joined the Roads Policing Unit at Wiltshire Police for a speeding patrol
In the first five months of 2024, over four and a half thousand vehicles in Wiltshire were caught speeding on the county's roads.
We joined Wiltshire Police on a speeding patrol to get a first hand look at how bad the issue is.
In the hour and a half we spent with two of the Roads Policing Unit in St Edith's Marsh, 12 people were pulled over in a 30mph zone because of excess speed.
PC Paul Davis told us that speeding hasn't suddenly become a bigger issue, but it's simply that more people are getting caught.
He said: "It's more of a case of the resourcing we have now to catch people speeding is increasing.
"The main introduction of the road safety unit, with the cameras that they have, are able to record number plates, meaning they don't actually have to physically stop that vehicle."
Officers want to reduce serious accidents on our roads
PC Davis said its vital to tackle speed and for us to adhere to speed limits on roads.
"Speeding is part of what we call our fatal 5. It's one of the fatal 5 fatal reasons why road traffic collisions can occur," he said.
The other four of the fatal five are using a mobile phone, drink driving, drug driving and not wearing a seat belt.
"We want to cut the number of road traffic collisions we have in the county, especially those that lead to serious or fatal," PC Davis added.
The section of road the officers were carrying out checks on is a 30mph area, flanked by 50mph zones.
The speed limit has been higher previously, but has been reduced to it's current 30mph.
"It may look like a nice angelic country lane," PC Davis said, "however you have houses and driveways right against the main carriageway, so the issue we have here is you've got a number of blind entrances that all it takes is that one child or that one car to come out of that entrance if you're going too fast and if you hit that person, we may have fatal consequences.
He advises not taking the speed limit our sat nav displays and to take note of the signs on the road side to know what speed to be doing. Some sat nav's don't display the correct speed limits on sections of road.
'Pay attention' when driving
"The majority of people we stop are concentrating on something else, whether they're having a daydream, thinking about that meeting, they're trying to get to or that delivery they're going to make.
"You've got to think you are driving half tonne of metal along the road and you've got to think I'm in charge of that metal and let's not crash it.
"Focus on what you're doing on the road," he said.
If we have concerns over the speed of traffic through our towns or villages, we can report it on the Wiltshire Police website or by speaking to a local neighbourhood police officer.