The Kimberley Speedwatch group has been active in the community, promoting road safety for over eight years. They volunteer their time to educate and increase awareness in and around the City of Kimberley through speed monitoring.

Members of the group set up at various times and locations from early spring to fall. They monitor and record the number of vehicles along with the speed. In addition to education and awareness police review the statistics and will follow up with enforcement action in the area if necessary.

This year the volunteers put in more than 140 hours and set up on 34 separate occasions, recording the speed of more than 6,700 vehicles. Less than 10% of those vehicles were exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 km/h.

Placement of the teams is a collaborative effort between the Speedwatch coordinators and police. Location deployments are based on observations made by the police, complaints received from residents and local government or in high risk areas (i.e. school zones). In addition to enforcement police often send warning letters to those may need a further reminder to slow down.

“The volunteers are committed to making Kimberley roads safer for everybody and their time and effort is truly appreciated,” said Sgt. Darrell Robinson, Kimberley Detachment commander.

Next year the group intends to implement ‘Cell Watch’ which will make observations with respect to the use of electronic devices while driving. Texting while driving is a serious issue and is becoming one of the major factors in a high number of collisions.

If you wish to become part of the Speedwatch group for 2015, please contact the Kimberley RCMP.

Cpl. Chris Newel,

Kimberley RCMP

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