Manual for streets / 20mph limits.

headpin

rog2 wrote: »

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I have to say, though, that at 84 an old lady, who incidentally had never driven a car in her life, can be forgiven if she is not 100% au fait with the Highway Code.
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And that is, perhaps, where one of the great problem lies. It is the Highway Code. It is for the guidance of everyone who uses the Highway. That includes pedestrians.

As I said before, my view as a car driver, cyclist and pedestrian is that many accidents involving pedestrians are the pedestrians fault. However, the powers that be like to blame the motorist. It's nice and easy and wins votes from naive people. How many more adverts do they need to make of little girls getting run down and killed because the motorist was doing 30 mph rather than 20 mph? Hang on a minute! The little girl ran out in to the road without looking in to the path of an on coming car. So who is the guilty party? The little girl (or her parents for allowing her out without ensuring she knew how to cross safely). Who is the ad targetted at? The motorist. Why? surely the money should be spent on eductaing children on the correct way to cross from one side of the road to another.

Oh, I forgot, that means you cannot then put your cash cow cameras in place then if it's not speed that is the problem. Silly me.

rog2

headpin wrote: »

And that is, perhaps, where one of the great problem lies. It is the Highway Code. It is for the guidance of everyone who uses the Highway. That includes pedestrians.

Hi hp - It is, indeed, a pity that I used the 'death' of a poor old lady as an example to show what it 'appeared to take' in order to get something done about an 'unsafe' road.
Even more 'unfortunate' given that I do not disagree with what you are saying about the 'responsibility of all road users, including pedestrians'. I agree, although not totally, when you say that the child who 'runs into the path of a car' must accept some of the blame, although, legally, that 'blame' would probably be shifted on to that child's parents, as the child would be under the age of 'legal responsibility'. The Law is not quite so clear cut when dealing with people at the other end of life's spectrum.
I never intended to point the finger of responsibility at the drivers - either the one who was parked, or the driver of the van that actually collided with Mrs. B. I have, since reading your reply, walked along to the particular part of the road and, whilst now the pedestrian crossing markings areon the road, at the precise spot, I can confirm that, at the time of the unfortunate accident, ther were double yellow lines, painted along this stretch of the road, meaning, to me, that the driver of the 'parked' lorry was, in fact, committing an offence by parking on 'double yellow lines' and obstructing the view of both the old lady and of the driver of the van that actually collided with her.
Now I know that 'two wrongs don't make a right' and I fully agree that every road user should be continuously checking ever-changing road conditions, so it is, of course diffcult, even wrong, to aportion 'blame' to anybody.
The fact that the pedestrian crossing has, now, been installed will, hopefully put an end to any further similar tragic accidents/incidents in the future.
Now that the crossing is fully installed and functioning, there has, certainly, been a marked reduction in the speed of vehicles (of all sizes) through the village, backing up what the OP said about the 'speed signs' making little or no difference, whereas the 'set of lights' at the crossing certainly has made a difference.
I often go to Italy, on business, and Italy certainly does not have a reputation for respecting speed limits, although this is changing - it is, after all, the birthplace of Professor GATSO, inventor of those infamous 'speed camera cows'. However, some of the other ways in which they are attacking 'excessive speeding' are certainly worth looking at in greater detail.
One such 'deterrent', used in Alto Adige, is a aset of fixed Traffic lights which turn red if the approaching vehicle is driving in excess of the legal/safe limit. These 'lights' will remain on 'red' for several seconds, as normal traffic lights, before turning green and allowing the motorist to continue on his journey. In some cases these lights are connected to a 'camera' which, if the motorist ignores the red light, will 'flash' and the motorist will receive a fine for 'jumping a red light'. I can assure you that these measures are much more effective in reducing speeding than a 'Safety Partnership' revenue collection van 'hidden' in a layby or pub car park.

SCROOGE

The traffic calming bumps in our area seem to be getting ever more viscious each time there are renewed (some contractors are doubtless on a nice earner there!). What is needed, in my view, is to do away with them altogether and for motorists to adopt a German-like discipline: when it says '20' you don't go above it; this coupled with fully-camouflaged, randomly-placed speed cameras should do the trick. Our traffic system overall needs a radical re-think in order to increase flow, part of which means - inevitably - increasing speed limits WHERE SAFE TO DO SO. In the case of motorways I would propose three measures: 1) Turning the inside lane into a lorry only lane with absolutely no overtaking: the motorway system is choked by lorries doing 61 mph overtaking lorries doing 60 mph, thus forcing cars out into the outside (overtaking) lane and snarling up the entire system. 2) Operating the outside lane (whether on a two-, three-, or four-lane highway) strictly as an overtaking lane (as per Highway Code and again as in Germany) with a fleet of speed cops on bikes enforcing it. 3) Remove the general speed limit on all motorways - yes, that too is the case in Germany. Oh, and can government please take action to curtail buses sitting at stops for five minutes, clogging up the traffic and spewing out noxious fumes, while people fumble with change, buy season tickets etc? What is wrong with a simple token system? I'm sure drivers would approve, and they could get on with the job in hand, namely driving the bus in a safe and efficient manner.