The police have the responsibility to enforce all speed limits. The police have said the 20 mph speed restrictions will be treated in the same way as any other speed limit in the Avon and Somerset Police area in that enforcement will not be routine, but will be intelligence led and where evidence of clear and excessive offending, accompanied by an aggravating factor, the police may consider enforcement where appropriate.
The City Council and Police are working together to ensure that people accept and understand why they are being asked to drive at 20 mph through education and community speed watch. We will also work to reinforce the new proposed lower limit by using Vehicle Activated Signs (VAS) which will flash ’20’ when people exceed the speed limit.
New guidance from ACPO has stated that they are now introducing speed awareness courses as a key part of enforcement in these areas for those who breach the limit. Often these drivers are mistaken or require further education on the local limit and therefore the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) are developing a speed awareness course. Avon & Somerset Constabulary have agreed to pilot the 20mph speed awareness course as part of their speed limit enforcement programme.
There will be a package of measures to help manage speeds which include engineering, visible interventions and landscaping standards that respect the needs of all road users and raise the driver’s awareness of their environment, together with education, driver information, training and publicity.