Speed Watch

Speed Watch is an educational program aimed at reducing incidents of speeding. It is designed to raise public awareness of the actual speeds drivers are traveling. The Speed Watch program is conducted in partnership with the police, citizen volunteers and ICBC.
Speed Watch checks are operated by volunteers trained by the police or qualified operators. Using portable radar equipment and an electronic digital board, volunteers monitor speeds in high crash zones, neighbourhoods, particularly school and playground zones. Drivers get an instant readout of their speed, displayed on a reader board as they pass by. Volunteers record the speed of every vehicle and forward these reports to the police. As a result, registered owners of vehicles that were travelling over the posted speed limit, will received a warning letter in the mail. 

Speed Watch helps address traffic and speeding problems through: 

• Public and community awareness
• Neighbourhood action
• Gathering speed related data
• Police awareness

Speed... Points to Ponder

Over the last five years*, approximately 65 people have died annually in unsafe speed related collisions. During this period, unsafe speed was a contributing factor in 38 per cent of all motor vehicle fatalities.

Unsafe speed means more than exceeding the posted limit. It may be translated into following too closely, failing to yield and driving too fast for the conditions (weather, traffic flow, time of day, etc.)
The faster you go, the longer it takes to stop. It takes 18 meters to come to a complete stop when driving 30km/h (on a dry, paved surface) but more than double that distance, 37 meters, when driving at 50 km/h. At 120 km/h, a vehicle will travel the length of a football field before stopping completely.

As speed increases, so does centrifugal force. Thus at high speeds, safely negotiating curves becomes increasingly difficult.

The faster you go, the harder you hit. Crashes involve intense forces as the energy of speed is released upon impact. The human body is a fragile structure which can sustain catastrophic damage when subject to these forces. 

*(2000-2004)

If you would like to join our friendly team of volunteers through the Mission Crime Prevention Office (CPO) you can pickup a Volunteer Application form from our office. You can find our address at the top of this page. If you have any questions please call us at (604) 820-2722.