Perception of speeding cars and traffic generally.

In my role as Chair of East Dorset CDRP I am privy to some restricted information about crime and the effect of crime on the community.In time most of this hits the news sooner or later with greater or lesser coverage dependant upon the influence it might have on the sale of newspapers.This month however one statistic stands out like a sore thumb and I will not be breaking the secrets act by sharing it with you. Whilst every other area in my patch, that is Purbeck, North and East Dorset recorded a considerable reduction in residents concern about speeding and reckless driving,Christchurch was in reverse by a considerable margin. This means that year on year more of us in this Borough have great concerns over drivers who we perceive are speeding and/or driving in an anti-social manner. Lets understand this quite clearly, perception is the key word here so it may not be actual speeding over the 30 mph limit that is the problem. If we are pushing more and more people into a small Borough like Christchurch and at the same time extolling the virtue of cycling, walking and so on , it is not surprising that we get concerned with traffic speed.For a long time now I have been calling for a root and branch look at this problem with a view to investigating 'homezones' and areas where 'twenty would be plenty'. What astonishes me is the considerable opposition and reaction to the principle of studying this issue.The first reaction by the 'Jeremy Clarkson' supporters club is to pass the blame to the Police, their view is that it is simply a question of nicking more people and the problem will go away. I don't see it that way, for me there is a far greater problem here and that is to do with how we are going to educate and change people's selfish attitude to misusing their vehicles as some sort of phallic/Rambo symbol.If we are to be comfortable in our expanded urban conurbation's we must revisit the whole problem of speed and the effect on our population.All I want is intelligent debate leading to an acceptable understanding about who has priority in our home roads, high streets and bye ways. To me, we have to redress the situation so that our understanding is that the pedestrian has priority and what he or she considers should be prioritised. That might mean a completely different approach to our streets and shopping/amenity areas. Whatever, we need to take on board that this problem exists and has to be dealt with.