For years, frustrated residents across the country have come up with increasingly inventive ways to persuade motorists to slow down. Some have installed fake speed cameras. Others have erected homemade warning signs. One Nottinghamshire woman became an internet sensation after standing beside a road with a hairdryer, prompting drivers to mistake it for a police speed gun. The video was viewed tens of millions of times around the world.
The common thread is a feeling shared by many communities: that speeding remains a persistent problem and that action is needed to tackle it. Now, in one Hertfordshire village, residents are taking a more official approach. Volunteers in Willian, near Letchworth Garden City, have begun using police-approved speed-checking equipment to monitor traffic as part of Hertfordshire Police’s Community DriveSafe scheme.
Residents trained and vetted
Members of the Willian Community Group have completed training and vetting before taking part in the initiative, which allows volunteers to record the licence plates of vehicles exceeding the village’s 30mph speed limit. The information is then passed to police.
Deborah Dawson, one of the volunteers, said drivers caught speeding would receive “an advisory letter explaining that they could have been prosecuted, had this been a police speed check”. She added that motorists who repeatedly exceed the limit could receive a visit from a police officer.
The volunteers set up the equipment at random times and on different days of the week. Judy Taylor, another member of the group, said: “We want to encourage drivers to slow down and drive safely through our small village.
“We also aim to collect data on traffic volume and speeds to use to make the case for further signage or traffic-calming measures to improve safety.”
Part of a wider movement
Although the Willian volunteers have attracted local attention, the scheme itself is far from unusual. Community Speedwatch initiatives now operate across much of the UK, with police forces training and vetting volunteers to monitor traffic in areas where residents have concerns about speeding.
Volunteers do not have the power to issue fines or penalty points. Instead, details of speeding vehicles are passed to police, who can send warning letters to registered keepers and use the information to target future enforcement activity.
Police forces argue that such schemes help fill a gap at a time when officers cannot routinely monitor every village, residential street or rural road where speeding is a concern.
A common concern
Speeding remains one of the issues most frequently raised by residents with councils, police forces and elected representatives. Concerns are often particularly acute in villages and residential areas, where people worry about the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and children crossing roads. In recent years, frustration over the issue has sometimes led communities to take matters into their own hands.
Closer to home, residents in Suffolk made headlines after installing a fake speed camera in an effort to slow motorists. In Norfolk, students outside East Norfolk sixth-form college attracted attention after using the same hairdryer trick that made the Nottinghamshire resident famous.
While such stunts have often been treated with good humour, authorities have warned against unofficial attempts to imitate enforcement activity. The Willian initiative differs because it operates with formal police backing.
The issue has also featured in wider debates about road safety. Wales introduced a default 20mph limit on many residential roads in 2023, while similar schemes have expanded elsewhere in the UK. Supporters argue that even modest reductions in speed can significantly improve a pedestrian’s chances of surviving a collision, particularly in built-up areas where people are walking, cycling or crossing roads.
‘Makes a real difference’
Ian Bunce, who leads the Community DriveSafe scheme at Hertfordshire Police, said he was “delighted” the village volunteers were now operational. He said the programme “makes a real difference to traffic speeds, empowers residents and has lasting effects”.
Ward councillor Claire Winchester recently visited the volunteers and praised their efforts. She said they “deserve every credit for getting organised and taking action to combat the menace of speeding through the village”. According to the councillor, Willian is “a real hot spot for drivers speeding” and volunteers recorded dozens of vehicles entering the village at excessive speed during her visit.
Jonathan Ash-Edwards, Hertfordshire’s police and crime commissioner, said speeding was among the issues residents raised with him most often. “It is encouraging to see Willian village residents taking practical action through our Community DriveSafe scheme to help slow drivers down and improve safety in the village,” he said. “This is a strong example of communities and policing working together to tackle the issues that matter most locally.”
Inspector James Lant, from the North Herts neighbourhood policing team, also praised the volunteers. “Their time and dedication play a vital role in helping us raise awareness of road safety and encouraging drivers to slow down,” he said. “Speeding significantly increases the risk of collisions and reduces the time drivers have to react, putting not only themselves but other road users and pedestrians in danger.
“Even small reductions in speed can make a big difference in preventing serious injuries.”
Communities taking action
The popularity of fake speed cameras and hairdryer “speed guns” was never really about the gadgets themselves. It was about residents feeling powerless to tackle a problem they encountered every day.
In Willian, that frustration has been channelled into something official. Where residents once improvised their own deterrents, trained volunteers are now being empowered to work alongside the police using approved equipment and formal procedures.
For communities that have spent years asking drivers to slow down, that may prove to be the most significant change of all.
This article is based on a piece by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, with assistance from AI tools and edited by East Anglia Bylines.
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