Slow Down!
10,000+ vehicles travel through Great Gap every day.
This equates to approximately 4 million vehicles passing through the hamlet every year.
Between 70% and 80% of all vehicles are speeding, over 30mph.
Some weeks peaking at 84%.
The fastest recorded speed of a vehicle within Great Gap is at 118mph.
This is a 30mph zone. At the time of recording the speed of this record breaker, the emergency services have confirmed it was not them, as they had no operations on at that time. It should also be stated that it occurred on a weekday, while children were waiting for the school bus.
When the amount of traffic decreases (e.g. over Christmas and New Year) the percentage of vehicles speeding increases.
The period recorded had a significant reduction in commuter traffic and most building work was stopped. Therefore the captured data is made up mainly of LOCAL traffic and HGV’s.
The next step – A SPEED CAMERA.
BBC articles
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Sentinel Speed Camera
What is Sentinel
It is a fixed speed camera, mounted on a tripod that can be moved to any suitable site where it is suspected that speed of vehicles is a problem.The use of this camera is to educate.
Where will Sentinel be used
When in Ivinghoe Parish, the nominated sites are located in Ivinghoe, Great Gap and Ivinghoe Aston. If other sites that are not being monitored become a concern Ivinghoe Parish Council will seek to get them nominated as well.
When will Sentinel be used
Ivinghoe has to share the equipment, along with a second one, with all the villages in the local area of Buckinghamshire. Therefore we will be using it at random times of the year, at any time of the day.
How will Sentinel be used
It will be operated by volunteers from the community, who will set up the camera (with warning signs). The camera then takes a photo/video of all vehicles that are speeding. If the vehicle is not speeding then the camera ignores it and does not record anything.
The data captured is then sent to Thames Valley Police for processing. Usually first time offenders are sent a warning letter advising that they have been caught with date, time and location and a warning that if caught again anywhere within the country operating a Speedwatch then further proceedings may be taken.
For further information on the technology behind Sentinel, please visit the Unipar website
The following statistics from Speedwatch operations.
Operational Times
| Date | Operational Time | Location – 30mph area unless indicated | Fastest Recorded Speed (mph) | Vehicles reported to TVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Morning, Afternoon and Evening | Ivinghoe, Ivinghoe Aston and Great Gap | 68 | 1127 |
| 2023 | Morning, Afternoon and Evening | Ivinghoe, Ivinghoe Aston and Great Gap | 59 | 1411 |
| 2022 | Morning, Afternoon and Evening | Ivinghoe, Ivinghoe Aston and Great Gap | 59 | 1188 |
| 2021
Jul – Dec |
Morning, Afternoon and Evening | Ivinghoe, Ivinghoe Aston and Great Gap | 60 | 561 |
| 2021
Jan – June |
Due to Covid, Speedwatch suspended | |||
| 2020 | Due to Covid, Speedwatch suspended | |||
| 2019 | Morning, Afternoon and Evening | Ivinghoe, Ivinghoe Aston and Great Gap | 62 | 603 |
| 2018 | Morning, Afternoon and Evening | Ivinghoe, Ivinghoe Aston and Great Gap | 65 | 637 |
| 2017 | Morning, Afternoon and Evening | Ivinghoe, Ivinghoe Aston and Great Gap | 67 | 1183 |
New Volunteers always welcome
The more volunteers we have, the more often the camera can go out.
Our aim is to educate drivers that speeding vehicles are not acceptable. Unfortunately, the only way that most drivers seem to get the message is when they are caught on camera. To that end we give training to all volunteers.
Generally speaking the camera is only out for 1.5 hours at a time, at differing times of the day. Once the operation is complete, there is about an hours processing time to review the captured data.
Therefore, if you can find time to spare the odd hour or two morning, afternoon or evening, you will be most welcome. If you are interested, please go the Community Speedwatch website where you can register and join the Ivinghoe Speedwatch Team or alternatively complete the form below and one of our co-ordinators will be in touch.
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