THE parents of a girl who was 'clipped' by a car speeding through their village were among those out monitoring traffic on a county-wide community day of action.
More than 120 volunteers were out across Dorset yesterday as part of a speed watch day, where members of the community used radar guns to monitor the speed cars were travelling in their area.
Four residents of Nottington, a village in Weymouth, were joined by a Dorset Police sergeant as they monitored the speed of motorists.
Two of the volunteers were a married couple who live in Nottington with their four daughters, one of whom had her bag knocked off her shoulder while she walked along the main road through the village - which does not have any pavements - when she was 15-years-old. The speed limit on the road is 20 mph and has some speed bumps, but is still a regular hotspot for speeding motorists.
The girl's father, who wants to remain anonymous, said: "She was walking when the driver of a car clipped her with the wing mirror and knocked her bag off her shoulder. It's such a problem when people speed through the village as we don't have proper pavements so it is unsafe."
The girl's mother said: "The bus stop is up at the top of a hill with no pavements so people have no choice but to walk on the road, even though cars constantly speed down it as they use the village as a cut-through to get to Chickerell. I never wanted to let my girls walk to the bus stop as it is too dangerous."
The group completed training as community speed watch volunteers in February 2020, but were unable to begin as the country went into lockdown at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, so only started volunteering in April.
They note any vehicles that exceed the speed limit and refer them back to Dorset Police for a warning letter to be sent. Vehicles that are persistently caught are reviewed to become monitored by the police which results in a greater level of attention from the No Excuse team of officers.
One volunteer said: "We are doing this for Nottington village to make sure it is safer for everyone that lives here."
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