SPEEDING kills.
It is an assertion that Garry Handley is only too ready to stand by.
And the road safety officer from Gloucestershire's Road Safety Partnership is determined to get the message across to motorists breaking the limits on the county's roads.
Mr Handley said: "Generally, speeding is a major problem in many communities and quite a significant cause of many road collisions.
"We have been doing our best to educate motorists to drive at an appropriate speed.
"Speeding when you are tired is a silent killer.
"Some drivers tend to go faster when they are tired, so we suggest for them to rest for 20 minutes every two hours.
"The overall trend is down though.
"People are realising speeding is unacceptable and anti- social. It can lead to serious collisions."
He urged motorists to take note of their speeds when travelling in bad weather and to make sure there is the maximum distance between vehicles.
It comes two weeks after Gloucestershire Constabulary carried out speed checks on Cleeve Hill.
Residents had complained drivers were putting lives at risk with their speed.
Police trained their radar guns at vehicles travelling on the B4632 following a fatal crash last month.
Scott Tompkins, network manager at Gloucestershire Highways, said speed limits were set based on guidelines from the Department of Transport.
He added: "The limits are based on various factors, such as volume of traffic and the built environment.
"Drivers will drive to the conditions for the most part. If you have a built-up environment, such as houses to the side of the roads, we cannot set too high a speed limit."
Gloucestershire Highways undertook a countywide review two years ago on all its A and B roads.
Officers took into account factors such as average traffic speeds, as well as accident history, traffic volumes, and the number of cyclists and pedestrians using each stretch.
Mr Tompkins said: "We did surveys on traffic volume and speeds on a number of roads. There were not a lot of changes. Residents will campaign, sometimes for years, to have speed limits reduced.
"But experience and research suggests that lowering an existing speed limit might not mean it will reduce accidents.
"We get a lot of requests and parish councils are always asking us to lower speed limits, but there are other things the community can do as well."
Gotherington parish council is among the areas which have taken steps to prevent speeding.
The parish council started Gotherington Safer Speed in Practice last year, which clocks speeds and volumes of traffic.
New £3,000 gateways to warn drivers going through the village to slow down will also be put up this year.
OPINION, P8
