A NEW approach to reducing speed on village streets was launched today at Stalham Junior School. CARS - Caring About Rural Speeds - which encourages community involvement in lowering the speed of traffic through villages - was launched by Norfolk County Council chairman Wyndham Northam.

A NEW approach to reducing speed on village streets was launched today at Stalham Junior School.

CARS - Caring About Rural Speeds - which encourages community involvement in lowering the speed of traffic through villages - was launched by Norfolk County Council chairman Wyndham Northam.

Persuasion and education are key to the scheme which, backed by police enforcement, aims to catch persistent anti-social drivers.

Measures include community speed watch activities, speed activated warnings signs, a poster campaign encouraging drivers to be more aware of their speed and enhanced education in the school.

Adrian Gunson, cabinet member for planning and transportation, said: “Speed limits, backed up by occasional enforcement, are the traditional methods used to slow down traffic, yet many local drivers still drive too fast, even though, as residents, they want traffic to go more slowly through their own villages.

“We hope that the CARS campaign will, by involving communities in a range of speed reduction activities, lead to more drivers accepting their own responsibility in reducing speeds.”

The campaign is taking place in the Rural Road Safety Demonstration Area in north-east Norfolk where the county council is piloting new rural road safety initiatives on behalf of the Department for Transport.