PARISH councillors are planning to tackle motorists who are flouting the new 20mph speed limits on their estate.
Blackbird Leys Parish Council said motorists travelling over the 20mph limit – brought in across Oxford last September against the advice of Thames Valley Police – on two key routes into the estate must be stopped before a serious accident happens.
They have taken the decision to look into the cost of a speed device for Blackbird Leys Road and Cuddesdon Way, which indicates to motorists if they are breaking the limit and urges them to slow down.
Speed indicator devices are portable signs which detect and record speeds of any approaching vehicle. They cost up to £3,000.
They display the speed of the oncoming motorist to encourage them to slow down.
Newly appointed council chairman Gordon Roper said: “I was out one day going along Cuddesdon Way about three days after the speed restrictions had come in and I was overtaken by two cars, two young girls, who must have been doing 45 to 50mph.
“Especially along Cuddesdon Way, it’s very, very dangerous. We want the devices to act as a deterrent until we can get the police down there with speed cameras. We want it to remind people if they are going too fast.
“Cuddesdon Way is a straight road and we’ve got the speed humps and little chicanes but the speed humps don’t make any difference because no-one really slows down at the speed bumps.
“It will be a start and if it works we will get some more. We are always proactive on the estate and this is one of the things we are going to look into.”
Mr Roper said speeding motorists had no respect for the public, young children or cyclists.
He added: “Why they speed, I don’t know.”
Blackbird Leys neighbourhood sergeant Rob Axe said he was not aware that speeding on the two roads had become a problem but pledged to work with the parish council to tackle it.
He added: “Speed indicator devices have the visual impact and it’s human nature to slow down when people see them.”
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