Driving Speed Near The School

We now have the latest stats from Langford’s traffic speed indicator device/sign which has been on Peregrine Way at a spot near to the Langford Primary School for a few months.  

To provide analysis, we’ve taken a snapshot from Monday 13th May to Sunday 19th May 2024.  The data for this covers vehicles travelling past the speed sign from the direction of the Goldcrest Way/Pipits Croft roundabout and travelling towards the village shops. 

This is a busy section of road, with 11,007 vehicles passing in this one direction over the whole 7-day period.

Overview

The daily. morning peak is between 8am and 9am – 127 Vehicles

The daily afternoon peak is between 5pm and 6pm – 172 Vehicles

The average vehicle speed recorded at this spot is 22.5mph

Over the Limit Speed

The top speed at which a vehicle passed this point was 45mph recorded on 17th May at 5.50 in the afternoon. More detailed information on the vehicles over the 30mph speed limit is shown in the table below.

DayNumber of vehicles speeding% OF vehicles speedingAverage speed
Monday533.1%32.9mph
Tuesday402.9%32.8mph
Wednesday734.3%33.1mph
Thursday483.1%33.0mph
Friday884.9%33.1mph
Saturday1006.6%33.0mph
Sunday1289.8%32.8mph
The figures are presented as a fair indicator for this one ‘typical week’ during term time in May 2024. 

Pick-up and Drop-off Times

Residents have always shown a lot of interest in traffic behaviour at school drop-off and pick-up times. So below we have detailed analysis for each weekday over a four-week period. This shows traffic between 8:30am and 9:00am, and between 2:30pm and 3:30pm.

You can study the total number of vehicles, the number speeding and the average speed.  

Days when pupils were on holiday or not attending because of a bank holiday are noted.

(PLEASE CLICK ON ANY OF THE CHARTS OR GRAPHS FOR A LARGER/READABLE VIEW)

The detailed breakdown shows that generally the average speed at key drop-off and pick-up times is under 20mph with very little speeding.  This is in stark contrast to school holiday times when the instances of speeding are greater.

To round off the data, the charts below show for the week beginning the 13th May, the hourly volume of traffic right through the day, with the clear morning and evening peaks.

The next chart shows details of speeds on this section of road during all times that week.

Conclusion

While there is a degree of speeding on this section of road, during the critical school drop off and pick up times, most drivers are generally respecting the speed limit.

We’ve now turned the device to face the opposite direction and will share results later.



Additional Langford Traffic Data

We now have our second set of statistics from our speed sign, stating again for clarity, this is NOT a speed camera. It does not record any number plate details.  Also, for the avoidance of doubt, the LVCA does not have an objective of getting a 20mph speed limit on Langford, it simply wants to raise speed awareness on our estate.

This set of data is for vehicles traveling from the Pipits Croft roundabout towards Ravencroft and Kestrel junctions, so when exiting the estate.  The statics are for a four week period starting Monday 13th November and ending Sunday 10th December.  During this time some 58,462 vehicles passed the sign in one direction, which averages 2,000 per day, or 4,000 per day if you assume an equal number of vehicles in the opposite direction.

The chart below puts traffic in 5 mph buckets, so for example 28,220 vehicles passed the sign doing 25mph to 30mph.  A total of 13,167 vehicles travelled past the sign above the 30mph speed limit, which equates to 22.5% of all vehicles, compared with the 12% that  exceeded the speed limit when the sign was located near Shearwater and Avocet junctions.  For context, nationally 50% of drivers break the 30mph speed  limit, which was somewhat surprising to me.

(Clicking on any chart will make it larger and more easy to read on your device)

The chart below is complex, it shows that on average that vehicles are traveling below 30mph, however we do have a considerable number of vehicles traveling at 35,40, 45mph etc, with one vehicle hitting 60mph.

The chart below provides the daily volumes for a single week.

The final chart, shows the flow of traffic through the day, highlighting a considerable morning peak in traffic flow.

The primary objective of the speed sign is to encourage us all to drive at a safe speed on our roads on our estate.  We hope you find these insights useful.  The speed sign has now been positioned to monitor vehicles entering our estate from the Kestrel Way and Ravencroft direction.  In the New Year a new socket will be installed near the school, and enable us to provide statics on vehicles using this stretch of road.

In the meantime, from us all at the LVCA, have a Merry Christmas and a safe New Year.

Laurence Gray, LVCA Committee Member

Latest Langford Traffic Speed Data

Following on from the original set of data from our local speed sign, we thought it would be interesting to take a sample week in order to share some more insights.  Specifically for the 7 days starting Monday 16th October, the following charts show:

  1. Volume of vehicles passing the sign per  day.
  2. Average volume of vehicles passing the sign per hour of the day.
  3. The range of speeds vehicles are passing the sign per hour of the day.

Please note, the sign records vehicles one direction only, so the true number of vehicles passing the sign is doubled if you assume the same number of vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. Clicking on any of the charts makes them bigger and easier to read.

On a week day, approx. 1,700 pass the sign. If you double that to take into account vehicles traveling in the opposite direction, that is 3,400 vehicles – a surprisingly busy stretch of road.

The above chart shows the high volumes of vehicles per hour during the morning and early evening periods.

This is a complex chart, it does show that on average vehicles are traveling below 30 miles per hour. However, during peak times each day we have a considerable number of vehicles traveling at 35, 40, 45 and even 50 miles per hour down this stretch of road. Let’s all play our part in keeping this busy road safe for all residents of our estate.

You’re welcome to leave a comment on this post here or to join in the conversations about this same topic on the Langford Life facebook page.

Laurence Gray, LVCA Committee Member

How Many Drivers Speed On Langford Village?

We now have the first set of statistics from Langford Village’s very own Speed Sign.  For clarity, this is not a speed camera, it does not record any number plate details.  It simply records for each vehicle passing it, its maximum speed along with a time and date stamp.

It is all too easy to accidentally speed, the primary objective of the speed sign is to actively draw each drivers attention to their speed.  It has been noted  that drivers are slowing down when the speed sign has indicated they are travelling above 30 miles per hour, so the impact has been positive. 

The sign is mobile, with two ’sockets’ already in place on Peregrine Way, with one socket near Kestrel Way and one near Avocet Way.  At each of these locations the sign can be positioned to measure traffic speed in either direction.  A third socket will shortly be installed along the section of Peregrine Way containing the shops and school.

The first set of data we have is for cars traveling from the Osprey Close/Falcon Mead roundabout down Peregrine Way towards the Shearwater Drive/Avocet Way junctions – basically leaving the estate. Over a period of one month, 44,167 vehicles passed the speed sign.  The chart below puts traffic into 5 mile per hour buckets.  So for example, 19,347 vehicles passed the sign traveling between 25 and 30 miles per hour.

The data indicates that we do have a surprising number of cars travelling down this section of road above the speed limit. Just over 12% of vehicles are speeding – that is  5,612 speeding vehicles over a period of 1 month (October 2023).

In response to some requests to publish a more detailed breakdown of the instances of over 30mph speeds the LVCA can also provide this additional chart/data table. This shows that there were 688 times when a vehicle was recorded as speeding between 36mph and 55mph.

The sign has now been moved to record data for cars traveling from the Goldcrest Way/Pipits Croft roundabout towards Ravencroft and Kestrel Way junctions, we will publish this data when available.

The primary objective of the Speed Sign is to encourage us all to drive at a safe speed on our roads, on our estate.  The secondary objective is provide actual data to determine if we have a problem with speeding on Langford.  If we do, we can provide this information to the relevant authorities who can in turn decide if they want to carry out any enforcement actions. 

Let’s work together to make Langford a safe place to live.

Laurence Gray, LVCA Committee Member