Rat-running, habitual breaking of local speed-limits, inconsiderate driving, ignoring 20mph zones, making it feel unsafe for people to walk or cycle… These and many other issues come up when residents raise concerns about how they feel about speed in their neighbourhoods.

Leeds City Council and its partners do many different things to tackle speeding, from enforcement and engineering to campaigns and driver education.

We also support community groups and schools who want to raise awareness about speeding in their neighbourhood.

One of things we can do is lend people a ‘SID’ machine for a couple of weeks (or longer, depending on availability.) SID stands for ‘Speed Indicator Device’. This uses a radar to detect how fast a vehicle is travelling. If it’s within the speed limit, SID’s face lights up with a cheery green smile. If the vehicle is breaking the speed limit, SID turns red and sad.

Some SIDs are fixed (you may have seen these on some of the roads around Leeds). But these portable SIDs can be moved to different locations and hotspots throughout the neighbourhood.

Groups borrow a SID for all kinds of reasons, such as:

• to research areas of concern;
• to generate data to share with the Council and the police;
• to remind drivers of the speed limit;
• as part of wider projects looking at issues such as air quality, vehicle counts and mobile-phone use etc;
• to generate ideas for a community or school campaign;
• to raise awareness about speed with other residents;
• to increase support for a campaign;
• to provide a visible community presence.

If you’d like to borrow a SID machine, please get in touch. We will show you how to use it safely and help your group come up with some ideas about how best to use it. The pack includes a trolley, instructions, risk assessment, high-viz jackets, stickers for wheelie bins and lampposts and more. We can also put your group in touch with your neighbourhood policing team (NPT), who may be able to come and help. Our own road safety trainers may also be able to support you, and your local councillor and media may also be interested to hear what you’re doing.

What next?

• To find out more about borrowing a SID machine for your group, please email us on road.safety@leeds.gov.uk: we will of course consider each request in the context of Covid-19 measures to ensure everyone’s safety.

• To raise other road safety / traffic issues, please contact your local Neighbourhood Policing Team (they also have a number of SID machines that they can use) or Ward councillors.