Helen MacDonald

After nearly 50 years of fault-free (officially, anyway!) motoring I now have penalty points, am £60 poorer and feel like a marked woman.

I admit I was doing 40mph in a 30mph zone, so can’t quarrel with the outcome and do understand the dangers of speed but it’s been festering in my brain for some time now and, though it sounds like sour grapes – and probably is – I really wonder if the positioning of speed traps is always led by considerations of safety.

The police were in the forecourt of the flats at the top of Norreys Drive. It was a weekday morning with not another vehicle in sight.

The road is very wide and the factories on one side and houses/flats opposite are set a long way back from the road, making it easy to forget that one is in a residential area.

I know that street lights should remind you but they’re not that noticeable in broad daylight!

The policewoman said that residents had been complaining about speeding traffic. I’ve seen speed traps operating there a few times over the years so if that is really so, why hasn’t there been a campaign or initiative to put up some warning signs?

Almost as soon as you turn from Norreys Drive into Shoppenhangers Road, which is much more obviously a residential road, there are notices reminding you that it’s a 30mph limit.

I’m beginning to wonder if speed traps in Norreys Drive are primarily a cash cow with the side benefit of catching a few erring drivers.

If anyone was really worried about the dangers of senior citizens racing along at 40mph, surely there would be warning signs by now or – perish the thought – RBWM’s favourite speed humps?