How volunteers in Tillington are tackling the scourge of speeding motorists on the A272

Standing at the edge of a busy A-road to monitor the traffic, come rain or shine, does not sound like the most appealing way to spend your free time.
Luzaan Allison, co-ordinator of the speedwatch group, demonstrates how the radar detector worksLuzaan Allison, co-ordinator of the speedwatch group, demonstrates how the radar detector works
Luzaan Allison, co-ordinator of the speedwatch group, demonstrates how the radar detector works

But a group of volunteers in Tillington were so determined to take action over anti-social driving on the A272, that they decided to set up a speed watch group and do just that.

Armed with a radar detector and a notebook, the volunteers are hoping their presence will change attitudes and make the road safer.

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For years, every summer has brought the same problem to Tillington: hundreds of cars and motorbikes thundering down the A272, which runs through the village.

Luzaan Allison, co-ordinator of the speedwatch group, demonstrates how the radar detector worksLuzaan Allison, co-ordinator of the speedwatch group, demonstrates how the radar detector works
Luzaan Allison, co-ordinator of the speedwatch group, demonstrates how the radar detector works

Parish councillor Luzaan Allison, who launched the speed watch group last year, said it was ‘hair-raising’ for the children, elderly people and horseriders trying to cross the well-used road and made them feel vulnerable as a village.

But the danger posed by speeding vehicles is not the only problem – it is the cumulative noise impact from the motorbikes roaring past that has the greatest impact on residents.

“The level of noise is demoralising, actually,” she said. “I think it’s affecting people’s overall health.

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“It gets so bad on this road that there’s people in this area that actually leave for the weekend.”

The speed watch group got into full swing for the first time last summer, when the core group of eight volunteers held between 20 and 30 hour-long sessions. The volunteers work in pairs: one uses a radar detector, which picks up the speed of a vehicle as it comes towards you, while the other makes a note of the registration, vehicle type, colour and model, and the time. If someone is travelling at five miles or more above the legal limit, the details are passed on to the police, who sends the driver a letter.

Only once someone has received three letters can the police take further action.

The stretch of road monitored by the group is a 40mph zone, but Mrs Allison said she had witnessed drivers hurtling along at much higher speeds.

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In fact she said: “We’ve never had a session where everyone stuck to the rules.”

Mrs Allison is keen to counter some of the misconceptions around speed watch groups.

“It’s not a witch hunt,” she said. “I think that’s what people automatically feel.”

She said it took a lot of commitment, concentration, time and effort – which was ‘not to be taken lightly’.

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“It’s quite a big deal for us to stand there, but there’s no other way around it,” she said.

The sessions last summer resulted in 85 letters being sent out to drivers – which Mrs Allison took as a sign of their success.

After just two or three sessions, she said: “We start seeing a difference in people’s attitudes.

“It is awareness – we all drive that way.

“If you see someone on the side of the road, you remember that – you make a mental note.”

But there are limitations to what the group can do, too.

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‘Very strict’ rules govern how the equipment can be used and exactly which stretch of road can be monitored.

For anyone speeding even 10 metres outside of the designated area, Mrs Allison said: “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

Some motorists made a point of going ‘hell for leather’ as soon as they had left the monitoring zone ‘just to prove a point’, she said.

So why is the issue of speeding vehicles along this road so entrenched?

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Mrs Allison said it could be a lack of education. “Maybe people just don’t really understand,” she said.

“You might think you’re the only one travelling along the A272 – you’re not. There are 300, 400 people a day during the summer.”

Others did not realise they were driving through a village, she said.

It becomes a vicious cycle: the more residents raised their hedges and fences to block out the noise, the less it appeared to passing vehicles that people lived there.

Then there was the question of enforcement.

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Mrs Allion said the police were ‘really quite serious’ about the issue.

Officers have conducted patrols along the A272 since the spring, and were joined by the MP Andrew Griffith one weekend in May – read more here.

But Mrs Allison said there was only so much they could do.

“If we were able to ask the police to be there every weekend, we would,” she said. “But they just don’t have the resources.”

She said the penalties for driving antisocially – and for having noisy motorbikes – needed to be harsher.

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“If you don’t change the leglisation, you can’t really do anything about the motorbikes driving antisocially,” she said.

Police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne has said road safety continued to be a ‘major priority’.

She said: “We have invested and strengthened Sussex Police’s roads policing units and they have been working with partners on successful engagement, education and enforcement campaigns.

“From public correspondence to my office, I know that speeding motorcyclists are an issue during the Summer months for many communities.

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“I will be raising their concerns in my next Performance & Accountability meeting with Chief Constable Shiner and her senior team and seeking assurances that the force is taking robust action against those using our roads irresponsibly.

“I have also discussed this issue with local MPs as their constituents share these concerns.”

The speed watch group are now gearing up for another summer of sessions, after the coronavirus delayed them from beginning in the Spring.

The parish council has even invested in its own speed watch equipment, so the sessions were not reliant on someone travelling to Midhurst Police Station to pick up the tools.

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Mrs Allison said other villages should ‘absolutely’ consider setting up a similar group ‘to make people understand that there is an issue’.

“It is about making a collective effort,” she said. “If your out driving and you see five or six community speed watch groups, surely that is getting over the message?”