Departments

The Community Safety Branch

THE community safety branch (CSB) has several sections and Road Safety is one of these.

Road Safety

The Road safety section is split into 4 further areas, Child Seat Information, Drink Drive, Kerbcraft and Speed.

Speed:

Speed has been the number one cause of injury and non injury accidents in Jersey now for several years. This includes injuries and deaths caused by excessive and inappropriate speed.

Inappropriate speed means driving whilst within the legal speed limit but not taking into account the prevailing conditions such as whether the roads are wet and slippery, visibility, whether pedestrians are in the area and the time of day are examples.

Many drivers take the view that they are only driving at slightly above the speed limit, perhaps just 5mph, however even at fairly low speeds the risk can be significant. For instance at 40mph a vehicle hitting a pedestrian will almost certainly kill that person. At 30mph the chance of killing a pedestrian is roughly 50% and at 20mph approximately 20%. chance of killing a pedestrian.

At just 5mph over the 30mph speed limit it takes an extra 21metres to stop.

The States of Jersey Police take the issue of excessive speed very seriously. They use manual speed detection equipment which is regularly tested and calibrated and is up to ACPO standards for accuracy. Generally areas known to have a high record of crashes caused by speed will be targeted by Officers though other areas are also monitored, particularly following complaints from members of the public regarding speeding motorists.

Offenders that are caught have to attend either a Parish Hall enquiry or attend the Magistrates Court depending upon how much over the speed limit they are caught driving. If found guilty of speeding, offenders will receive a fine. The level of the fine tends to be dependant on how much over the speed limit a driver was travelling. A driver’s licence may be endorsed or driving ban can be imposed in certain circumstances.