Speed Enforcement in Restricted Road Areas Without Street Lighting

The request was partially successful.

Dear Avon and Somerset Constabulary,
I am writing to you to request information regarding speed enforcement in your constabulary.
I trust this information will be provided as required under the Freedom of Information act;
1. Please confirm what Avon and Somerset's policy is regarding the enforcement of speed limits in "restricted road" areas where there is no street lighting (or they are more than 200 years apart).
Why does the constabulary actively enforce speed limits where the distances between each terminal repeater signs exceeds the guidance as detailed in the Traffic Signs Manual and Traffic Signs Regulations?
2. Would the constabulary agree that by enforcing these sites the constabulary and Highway authority have failed to meet their obligation of the Traffic Sigs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) direction 11 to provide repeater signs "Along the Road" and or "at regular intervals" in line with existing guidance?
3. Have temporary terminal repeater signs ever been erected by the constabulary or requested to be installed by the local authority?
4. What checks are made prior to a new enforcement site becoming active and subsequently what daily checks are made before each site is enforced?
5. In total how many people have successfully appealed a Notice of indented prosecution due to insufficient repeater signs in 2014/2013?

Yours Faithfully
Mr Craig Sweeney

#Freedom of Information Requests, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

 

 

 

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

    

Private Our Reference 057/15

Mr Craig Sweeney
Date 19 January
[1][FOI #248638 email] 2015

 

 

Dear Mr Sweeney

 

I write in connection with your request for information dated 16^th
January 2015 concerning speed enforcement in restricted road areas without
street lighting. This request will be dealt with under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act. In some
circumstances Avon and Somerset Constabulary may be unable to achieve this
deadline if consideration needs to be given to the public interest test.
If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at
the earliest opportunity.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

C Quartey

 

Freedom of Information Officer

Corporate Information Management Department

 

Please note;

1.     Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary’s website (within 24 hours), some of which may contain a link
to additional information, which may provide you with further
clarification.

2.     Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order to
seek clarification, all other communication should be made in writing.

3.     Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure.

 

 

 

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Avon and Somerset Constabulary. All reasonable efforts have been made to
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viruses, but Avon and Somerset Constabulary accepts no responsibility for
any damage, howsoever arising, as a result of their transmission to the
recipient's computer or network.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Working to make the communities of Avon and Somerset feel safe and be safe

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #248638 email]

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#Freedom of Information Requests, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

1 Attachment

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

Email [1][email address]

 

 

     

Private    

Mr Craig Sweeney Our Reference 057/15

[FOI #248638 email] Date 23 January 2015

 

 

Dear Mr Sweeney

 

I write in connection with your request for information dated 16^th
January 2015 concerning speed enforcement. I am writing to you to inform
you that your request has been transferred to the Speed Enforcement Unit
(SEU). The information you are seeking would routinely be provided by that
unit, therefore your request has been treated as business as usual.

 

Please be assured that your request is currently being worked on, and you
will be provided with a response as soon as possible and in any case
within the prescribed 20 working day timeframe as set out in the Act.

 

Should you have any further queries regarding your request in the
meantime, please contact the Speed Enforcement Unit (SEU) directly at
[2][email address].

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

C Quartey

 

Freedom of Information Officer

Corporate Information Management Department

 

 

Please note:

1.     Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary’s website (within 24 hours), some of which may contain a link
to additional information, which may provide you with further
clarification.

2.     Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order to
seek clarification, all other communication should be made in writing.

3.     Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure (copy
attached).

 

 

**********************************************************************
This e-mail is intended for the named individual(s) only and may contain
information which is protected in law. If you have received this e-mail in
error, you may not read, copy, disseminate or otherwise deal with it. In
this case, please delete the e-mail and contact the sender immediately.
Internet e-mail is not secure. Therefore Avon and Somerset Constabulary
does not accept legal responsibility for the contents or distribution of
this message including file attachments. Any views or opinions presented
are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of
Avon and Somerset Constabulary. All reasonable efforts have been made to
check that any attached software or other material is/are free of computer
viruses, but Avon and Somerset Constabulary accepts no responsibility for
any damage, howsoever arising, as a result of their transmission to the
recipient's computer or network.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Working to make the communities of Avon and Somerset feel safe and be safe

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]

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Susan Lewis, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

Dear Mr Sweeney,

Thank you for your email which has been passed to me to respond:

1. Any enforcement on a "restricted road" where there is no street lighting (or they are more than 200 years apart) a copy of a traffic regulation order (TRO) is requested from the Local Authority.

2. See 1

3. The police do not erect any speed limit signage as this is the responsibility of the local authority. All signage is checked by the enforcement officer before enforcement commences and if there any relevant signs that are not visible or damaged etc, enforcement will not commence and the relevant local authority are informed.

4. Prior to a new enforcement site becoming active, the enforcement officer visits the location to ensure suitable parking is available, they also carry out a risk assessment, check for visibility and ensure the relevant signage is in order. As previously stated, the enforcement officer checks all relevant signage before enforcement and at each location completes a distance check at the start and end of the enforcement period.

5. This information is not available as once any cases are dealt with at court, this information would be kept by the courts.

Yours sincerely

Mrs S Lewis
Speed Enforcement Unit
Avon and Somerset Constabulary

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig Sweeney [mailto:[FOI #248638 email]]
Sent: 16 January 2015 16:46
To: #Freedom of Information Requests
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Speed Enforcement in Restricted Road Areas Without Street Lighting

Dear Avon and Somerset Constabulary,
I am writing to you to request information regarding speed enforcement in your constabulary.
I trust this information will be provided as required under the Freedom of Information act;
1. Please confirm what Avon and Somerset's policy is regarding the enforcement of speed limits in "restricted road" areas where there is no street lighting (or they are more than 200 years apart).
Why does the constabulary actively enforce speed limits where the distances between each terminal repeater signs exceeds the guidance as detailed in the Traffic Signs Manual and Traffic Signs Regulations?
2. Would the constabulary agree that by enforcing these sites the constabulary and Highway authority have failed to meet their obligation of the Traffic Sigs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) direction 11 to provide repeater signs "Along the Road" and or "at regular intervals" in line with existing guidance?
3. Have temporary terminal repeater signs ever been erected by the constabulary or requested to be installed by the local authority?
4. What checks are made prior to a new enforcement site becoming active and subsequently what daily checks are made before each site is enforced?
5. In total how many people have successfully appealed a Notice of indented prosecution due to insufficient repeater signs in 2014/2013?

Yours Faithfully
Mr Craig Sweeney

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**********************************************************************
This e-mail is intended for the named individual(s) only and may contain information which is protected in law. If you have received this e-mail in error, you may not read, copy, disseminate or otherwise deal with it. In this case, please delete the e-mail and contact the sender immediately.
Internet e-mail is not secure. Therefore Avon and Somerset Constabulary does not accept legal responsibility for the contents or distribution of this message including file attachments. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Avon and Somerset Constabulary. All reasonable efforts have been made to check that any attached software or other material is/are free of computer viruses, but Avon and Somerset Constabulary accepts no responsibility for any damage, howsoever arising, as a result of their transmission to the recipient's computer or network.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Working to make the communities of Avon and Somerset feel safe and be safe

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Dear Avon and Somerset Constabulary,
Thank you for your response but please could you request that questions 1 and 2 are reviewed as these were unsatisfactorily answered.
In addition I would also like to request further information.
1. Have Avon and Somerset Constabulary or community speed watch volunteers removed temporary terminal signs from enforcement sites 3218 & 3139?
2. Were Avon and Somerset ever made aware that temporary terminal signs had been installed at the above sites by an unknown party?
3. Were these temporary signs ever identified by the enforcement officer whilst completing pre-enforcement checks?
4. Has any speed enforcement been undertaken whilst these temporary terminal signs were installed?
5. How many sign defects have the Constabulary reported to the Local Authority between the months of Jan 2014 and Feb 2015 at sites 3218 & 3139? Please provide copies of each report where available.
Regards
Mr C Sweeney

Susan Lewis, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

Dear Mr Sweeney,

Thank you for your email.

1. Avon and Somerset Constabulary have not and would not remove any temporary terminal signs, I am unable to comment with regards to anyone else tampering with signage.
2. Avon and Somerset Constabulary Speed Enforcement Unit check all relevant signage before enforcement and if there are any issues with signage, enforcement will not commence and the local authority are informed.
3. The Speed Enforcement Unit have not been made aware of any temporary signs while completing pre-enforcement checks. As previously stated, all relevant signage before enforcement and if there are any issues with signage, enforcement will not commence and the local authority are informed.
4. See answer 2
5. Any signage issues are reported to the local authority the same day as the enforcement officers inform the Speed Enforcement Unit. Until these signs are rectified, enforcement will not commence. The local authority were informed in May 2014 advising enforcement was suspended due to foliage covering signage at sites 3218 and 3139. No enforcement was then carried out at site 3139 until November 2014 and no enforcement was carried out at site 3218 until December 2014. Copies of reports are not available as this is reported through a web portal and no report is generated.

Yours sincerely

Mrs S Lewis
Speed Enforcement Unit
Avon and Somerset Constabulary

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig Sweeney [mailto:[FOI #248638 email]]
Sent: 19 February 2015 22:30
To: Susan Lewis
Subject: Re: FW: FOI 057/15 - Applicant request and contact details.

Dear Avon and Somerset Constabulary,
Thank you for your response but please could you request that questions 1 and 2 are reviewed as these were unsatisfactorily answered.
In addition I would also like to request further information.
1. Have Avon and Somerset Constabulary or community speed watch volunteers removed temporary terminal signs from enforcement sites 3218 & 3139?
2. Were Avon and Somerset ever made aware that temporary terminal signs had been installed at the above sites by an unknown party?
3. Were these temporary signs ever identified by the enforcement officer whilst completing pre-enforcement checks?
4. Has any speed enforcement been undertaken whilst these temporary terminal signs were installed?
5. How many sign defects have the Constabulary reported to the Local Authority between the months of Jan 2014 and Feb 2015 at sites 3218 & 3139? Please provide copies of each report where available.
Regards
Mr C Sweeney

-----Original Message-----

Dear Mr Sweeney,

Thank you for your email which has been passed to me to respond:

1. Any enforcement on a "restricted road" where there is no street lighting (or they are more than 200 years apart) a copy of a traffic regulation order (TRO) is requested from the Local Authority.

2. See 1

3. The police do not erect any speed limit signage as this is the responsibility of the local authority. All signage is checked by the enforcement officer before enforcement commences and if there any relevant signs that are not visible or damaged etc, enforcement will not commence and the relevant local authority are informed.

4. Prior to a new enforcement site becoming active, the enforcement officer visits the location to ensure suitable parking is available, they also carry out a risk assessment, check for visibility and ensure the relevant signage is in order. As previously stated, the enforcement officer checks all relevant signage before enforcement and at each location completes a distance check at the start and end of the enforcement period.

5. This information is not available as once any cases are dealt with at court, this information would be kept by the courts.

Yours sincerely

Mrs S Lewis
Speed Enforcement Unit
Avon and Somerset Constabulary

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #248638 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

**********************************************************************
This e-mail is intended for the named individual(s) only and may contain information which is protected in law. If you have received this e-mail in error, you may not read, copy, disseminate or otherwise deal with it. In this case, please delete the e-mail and contact the sender immediately.
Internet e-mail is not secure. Therefore Avon and Somerset Constabulary does not accept legal responsibility for the contents or distribution of this message including file attachments. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Avon and Somerset Constabulary. All reasonable efforts have been made to check that any attached software or other material is/are free of computer viruses, but Avon and Somerset Constabulary accepts no responsibility for any damage, howsoever arising, as a result of their transmission to the recipient's computer or network.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Working to make the communities of Avon and Somerset feel safe and be safe

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