Fed-Up Scottish Neighborhood Uses Hairdryers to Thwart Overspeeding Drivers

Here’s one for the funny books: Residents of Hopeman—a quaint little seaside village in Moray, Scotland took it upon themselves to deter drivers from overspeeding by arming themselves with hair dryers and reflective vests. With said equipment, people from the village then stood by the roadside in the hopes of convincing drivers that they are police officers with speed guns.

The reason for the ruse

According to the residents, they felt compelled to take such drastic measures because the overspeeding drivers put the lives of locals in danger by exceeding 60 miles per hour on a long stretch of road that exits the area. The actual speed limit is 30 miles per hour

"It's very dangerous, the speed that the traffic is doing through Hopeman is quite serious, especially when the kids are going to school in the morning - it's quite alarming," Moray councilor Dennis Slater told the BBC. "This is why some of the residents have resorted to taking out hairdryers and putting on hi-vis vests to try to slow the traffic down."

Slater said that he hopes their ruse can convince drivers to think twice about stepping on the accelerator as they pass through their village.

"We don't like to be seen standing with hairdryers and hi-vis vests, we are trying to emphasise to people the desperate situation. Please slow down going through our community," he added.

‘Please slow down’

Other people from the neighborhood also implemented similarly peculiar measures, such as setting ladders against walls so children can pass between back gardens to get home instead of crossing the dangerous length of road.

"The main worry is crossing the road. It's the main busy road through Hopeman and people just don't slow down when they enter the village," resident Carmen Gillies said. "It might all sound like a joke but these are the sorts of lengths we have to go to make sure our children are safe."

The cops will be on it—shortly

According to reports, the stretch of road that leads through Hopeman has been attracting local speed demons for some time now. While residents continue to impersonate the police, the actual Police Scotland, which has been slow to deal with the concern, released the following statement.

"Road safety is a priority for Police Scotland, particularly for North East division. We are aware of complaints regarding speeding in Hopeman, which we are continuing to address. This aligns with one of our divisional priorities and supports Operation Cedar, which concentrates on reducing the number of serious and fatal road traffic incidents within the North East area."

"We have had a number of complaints regarding speeding in Hopeman, which we will continue to address," Lossiemouth police Constable Roy Cook said. "Offenders will be dealt with by either warnings, the offer of a fixed penalty or a report to the Procurator Fiscal."

A matter of time

Though there are no reports of fatal accidents yet, residents say that at the speeds reached by the offending drivers, it’s only matter of time before they hit a child.

Residents are planning to create an action group in the village that will be in charge of coming up with initiatives to communicate their message to ‘slow down’ hit home harder for overspeeding drivers.