WHAT’S THE biggest moan on the Isle of Dogs? Strictly speaking, we don’t know – we haven’t done a proper survey. But we do know that lots of people are concerned, worried and annoyed by the “boy racer” phenomenon.

Young men use the Island as a racing track. It’s not that the Island has open roads that are good for racing. There are short stretches of open road, but they are quickly followed by speed bumps or corners or roundabouts or traffic islands – the same situation as elsewhere in Tower Hamlets. The youngsters seem, usually, to be inspired to race after taking nitrous oxide. They are dangerous – to others, and to themselves.

Against this background, the Safter Neighbourhood Police on the Isle of Dogs have been trained to operate speed cameras. They will be running operations on the Island in coming weeks, hoping to check speeding and therefore reduce incidents on the road.

Many drivers will see this as unwelcome news – largely because they don’t like observing the 20mph speed limit. They probably didn’t like the previous 30mph limit either. But the speed limit is there to protect pedestrians, so we have to live with it. And speed checks are a reminder that when we get behind a wheel and take to the roads, we enter a contract: they provide the roads, and we agree the rules for driving on them and the rules try to stop us hurting each other.

Maybe the “boy racers” will be deterred by the presence daytime speed checks – but it seems unlikely. The residents of the Island will be hoping that while they enforce the daytime speed limit, the police will also find some resources to tackle the night-time racing phenomenon.

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