Police in Fife are trialling a novel approach to remind drivers of the dangers of speeding through one of the region’s most tranquil villages.
Dairsie, which sits on the main A91 route between Cupar and St Andrews, is only home to a few hundred people and rarely hits the headlines.
However, locals have recently had reason to complain about how fast motorists have been travelling through the village, with many drivers said to be going well in excess of the 30mph speed limit.
Police Scotland’s East Safety Camera Unit is using a new wheelie bin poster initiative to serve as a warning to drivers to slow down on the route between St Andrews and Dundee.
The scheme has already been tried in the Scottish Borders and Stirlingshire and deemed a success.
Inspector Vinnie Fisher, safety camera manager at the East Safety Camera Unit, hopes bringing the tactic to Dairsie will a noticeable drop in driver speeds.
“We regularly deploy our camera van on the A91 but unfortunately we can’t be there 24/7,” he pointed out.
“The poster initiative will provide a visual reminder to drivers on refuse collection days of the dangers and likely outcomes of excessive speed.
“It is a novel approach which, as well as the positive comment from our other trials in the Scottish Borders and Stirlingshire, has previously had success in England and Wales.
“The local community council are fully supportive, as is Fife Council who have responsibility for the road.
“We will have a team of camera unit staff and local community constable Kevin Adam fixing the posters to residents’ wheelie bins on Friday and we will evaluate it later in the year based on known speed profiles.
“We are hopeful of success, at which point we will consider extending it to other areas.”
The posters will highlight the police’s message that the speed limit is normally 30mph where there are street lights at the side of the road, unless otherwise stated.
They will also drive home the fact that the risk of a person dying is approximately four times higher when they are hit by a vehicle travelling at 40mph compared to a pedestrian being struck at 30mph.
