Speed Awareness Monitoring (SAM)
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Oct 2024
In response to community concerns regarding speeding in the village the Parish Council purchased a second SAM2 vehicle activated sign when the Speed Awareness team disbanded due to a lack of volunteers to run and participate in the scheme. The Sign incorporates a data module and record speed and date/time data (not registrations or any other specific details that would identify vehicles or drivers) to analyse and to support or dispel perceptions of speeding and to provide evidence of ‘hot-spots’ and patterns of offending to the Norfolk Constabulary and Norfolk County Council Road Safety partnership so that they can target issues with their limited resources more effectively.
Ultimately this is about safety for the community. Remember even a few mph makes a difference; braking from 32mph would mean you would still be travelling at about 11mph when you hit child at the highway code recognised 23m(75ft) braking distance for 30mph, increase that speed to 35mph and you hit that child 23m away at 18mph… a few mph won’t get you home or to work much quicker but it could save serious injury or death and a life-time of regret. Most accidents happen near home, so we can do our bit whilst also targeting commercial and visitor traffic.
FAQs and myth-busting:
Q. Why don’t we ask for a weight limit through the village?
A. The 7.5T limit if successfully granted at a cost to the village has exemptions for HGVs that are accessing or need to pass through the village on business or if it is the only practical route to their destination. Agricultural traffic, tractors, machinery and HGVs transporting crops from the fields are also exempt.
Q. Why don’t we apply for traffic calming measures?
A. Traffic calming installed must still allow all vehicles that require access to pass unobstructed. Speed bumps result in traffic braking and then speeding up again afterwards, the noise associated with that frequently causes complaints or objections in the consultation process or after installation; an objection results in the application being referred to the Secretary of State for a decision, this incurs legal and administrative costs in excess of £10k, which would need to be paid for by the village through the precept and Council tax. Empty lorries and farm trailer going over speed bumps make an incredible din. Pinch point traffic calming is only really practical where wide roads need to be narrowed to reduce the 85th percentile speed and again have an associated noise nuisance with braking and accelerating.
Q. Why doesn’t the Parish Council have a Speed Watch Team?
A. The Speed Watch Team is a NCC initiative and it has limited resources that are circulated around the County for use by the teams. If a team is not fulfilling the minimum monitoring activity then they withdraw the kit for reallocation where it will be used to best benefit. Marham Speed Watch Team operated successfully for many years with a Co-ordinator and the bare minimum 5 other volunteers, carrying out two 1 hour sessions per week throughout the year and faced regular abuse and threats from the public. When the Marham Co-ordinator decided to retire there was no-one able or willing to take up the post and as a result the scheme folded and the kit had to be returned. There have been calls for volunteers but there have been no responses for the Co-ordinator position. The team when deployed had a positive impact on some drivers but there were still a few that paid no heed to it even though the team had to put out warning signs and wear hi-vis jackets. Furthermore, the data over many years showed very little reduction in speeds or number of offences and it was limited by only being able to monitor in dry conditions at approved locations where the team was not in harms way, this was frustratingly often not the locations where the team would have liked to monitor speeding.
Q. What is the Parish Council doing about speeding and road safety?
A. The Parish Council historically, and presently, has always been concerned about speeding and explored any initiative to make Marham a safer place for all. The data recording by SAM 2 has been re-instated after a period where the PC was unable to do so; it is analysed and reported on at meetings and where patterns of speed exceed the reporting threshold it is highlighted to the NCC Road Safety Partnership. There are currently 3 areas of concern that the PC is working toward finding an effective solution to hazards identified: Hillside – “the School Run”, Squires Hill near the corner by The Beeches and stretches of footpaths and public rights of way that are obstructed with over grown vegetation (belonging to the adjacent properties).
The Parish Council has no powers nor duties for road safety including speeding, parking nor poor driving standards but shares community concerns and asks that in the first instance where residents identify problems that they report it to the appropriate authorities, Police for Speeding and poor driving standards, County Council for hazardous road or path defects and the Brough Council for parking. If you do not get the response you would expect without a rational explanation then please do email or write to the clerk who will highlight it to Council so that they can address it with the County/Borough Councillors, Police and Crime Commissioner to escalate the issue. The Parish Council does not respond to anonymous or social media reporting or where details are insufficient to follow up in a meaningful manner.
Parking is a difficult one… Since November 2011 when, ‘Norfolk (excluding Norwich City) became “decriminalised” for the purposes of parking enforcement both on and off-street’, the Police and Safer Neighbourhood Team have had limited powers over parking. Responsibility for controlling illegal parking has largely been transferred to Parking Operations based in King’s Lynn. Consequently, anyone who wishes to report illegal parking should now do so using the following guidance copied from the Norfolk County Council website:
‘To report illegal parking on roads where there are parking restrictions (yellow lines, time limited waiting, etc) you should contact the councils that manage enforcement (details below). Please note that cases of actual obstruction on roads (preventing the passage of vehicles) or footways (preventing the passage of wheel chairs or child push chairs) should be referred to the police on 101 … Report illegal parking in Breckland, Broadland, King’s Lynn & West Norfolk and North Norfolk, Tel: 01553 616222 Email: parking.operations@west-norfolk.gov.uk (please use the email address if you wish for a response to your request/report). For inconsiderate parking in residential areas it may be more productive to try the friendly neighbour approach and highlight the issue they are causing, they may be unaware and try to park more considerately in future…
You can play your part in improving road safety in Marham via the following channels:
- Norfolk County Council – Report a Problem: potholes, flooded roads, mud on the roads, blocked drains, obstructions etc. If you register when reporting they will provide a reference number and follow up report on actions, that reference is useful for the PC if we need to follow up.
- Norfolk Constabulary – reporting of any crimes or incidents that are not a danger to life, for those you should still dial 999.
- Parking – as above to the Borough Council email parking.operations@west-norfolk.gov.uk
- Agricultural traffic hazard/nuisance – during crop harvest local farmers employ contactors and if you can identify a company name and registration of a vehicle causing concern and report it to the Parish Council then they may be able to contact the appropriate farm manager to ask them to address the concerns and issues, this is obviously time sensitive and subjective but our local farmers are themselves good neighbours and take these concerns seriously.
- Writing to the Parish Council at clerk@marhamparish.gov.uk or attending a PC meeting to raise a concern in person.
What does the 85th percentile mean?