White road markings

sevenhills

A junction in my town has been reported to the local council by numerous people as a 'road of concern' due to the number of accidents.

Its a crossroads with one road having priority and stop at the others.

People park very close to the junction and the road markings are poor, but the stop sign is there. Would motorists be able to sue the council for a failure to take action?

Are roundabouts a safer option?

AdrianC

sevenhills said:

A junction in my town has been reported to the local council by numerous people as a 'road of concern' due to the number of accidents.

Its a crossroads with one road having priority and stop at the others.

People park very close to the junction

How close? Within 10m?

What parking restrictions are in place?

and the road markings are poor, but the stop sign is there.

By "poor", you mean the paint is faded and damaged, but still visible?

Would motorists be able to sue the council for a failure to take action?

People with priority, or those who ignored the stop markings?
If there was a collision, it would be the latter who would usually be liable. It is nobody's fault but theirs that they ignored the markings.
The driver with priority may or may not have been able to avoid collision.

What's the speed limit?

Are roundabouts a safer option?

They can be, but not as safe as drivers paying attention to their surroundings.

user1977

I doubt the council is liable merely because the junction could be improved. Councils will prioritise what safety measures they can take, look at return on investment (e.g. estimate what past accidents have cost and what the potential improvements would cost), etc - so they're probably safe as long as they show they have that sort of system in place.

Roundabouts can be safer, but are also much more expensive (especially if e.g. you need to buy adjoining bits of land to create enough space for them).

AdrianC

A roundabout, of course, also changes the relative priorities of the roads from unequal to equal. This may have knock-on effects on traffic flow.

sevenhills

The crossroads is in an area of terraced houses, so cars and sometimes vans are parking right on the junction. I don't believe there are any parking restrictions, I am sure the white markings are visible, but drivers often read the road and cannot see a gap between the parked cars.

Not sure if it's a 20/30 mph area, it could well be 20mph.

AdrianC

sevenhills said:

The crossroads is in an area of terraced houses, so cars and sometimes vans are parking right on the junction.

Naughty parking people.

I don't believe there are any parking restrictions

Perhaps the council could paint some lines coming in from the junction to remind the muppets, when they repaint the stop lines.

I am sure the white markings are visible, but drivers often read the road and cannot see a gap between the parked cars.

Naughty drivers.

Not sure if it's a 20/30 mph area, it could well be 20mph.

Well, if people are driving appropriately, they'll have plenty of time to react, since they should both be travelling at only about two car lengths per second.

We've recently had a situation near here with a GW junction. NSL, 60mph, unclassified roads but both two-vehicle width. The lines were damn near invisible, and one sign had faded to near-white, while the other was propped in a hedge. About a year after a rather large accident, two cars written off, fortunately nobody hurt, the council FINALLY got round to replacing and repainting them, but not until serious badgering. TBF, there was a degree of arguing over whose they were, since the junction is right on a boundary.

ontheroad1970

sevenhills said:

The crossroads is in an area of terraced houses, so cars and sometimes vans are parking right on the junction. I don't believe there are any parking restrictions, I am sure the white markings are visible, but drivers often read the road and cannot see a gap between the parked cars.

Not sure if it's a 20/30 mph area, it could well be 20mph.

Take photocopies of the relevant section of the Highway Code with the instruction - You MUST NOT  park within 10m of a junction.  It even has the relevant legislation act next to it.

sevenhills

AdrianC said:

We've recently had a situation near here with a GW junction. NSL, 60mph, unclassified roads but both two-vehicle width. The lines were damn near invisible, and one sign had faded to near-white, while the other was propped in a hedge. About a year after a rather large accident, two cars written off, fortunately nobody hurt, the council FINALLY got round to replacing and repainting them, but not until serious badgering. TBF, there was a degree of arguing over whose they were, since the junction is right on a boundary.

Since austerity and now another period of having a Government with a massive debt, I feel that councils don't have enough money and they are not very good at doing the basics. There may more instances where they haven't spent our money on the right priorities.

Car_54

ontheroad1970 said:

sevenhills said:

The crossroads is in an area of terraced houses, so cars and sometimes vans are parking right on the junction. I don't believe there are any parking restrictions, I am sure the white markings are visible, but drivers often read the road and cannot see a gap between the parked cars.

Not sure if it's a 20/30 mph area, it could well be 20mph.

Take photocopies of the relevant section of the Highway Code with the instruction - You MUST NOT  park within 10m of a junction.  It even has the relevant legislation act next to it.

You clearly haven't read the HC yourself. It does not say "MUST NOT", which would indicate a legal requirement. What it actually says (Rule 243) is:

"DO NOT stop or park ... opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space"

There is NO relevant legislation.

AdrianC

[Deleted User] said:

ontheroad1970 said:

sevenhills said:

The crossroads is in an area of terraced houses, so cars and sometimes vans are parking right on the junction. I don't believe there are any parking restrictions, I am sure the white markings are visible, but drivers often read the road and cannot see a gap between the parked cars.

Not sure if it's a 20/30 mph area, it could well be 20mph.

Take photocopies of the relevant section of the Highway Code with the instruction - You MUST NOT  park within 10m of a junction.  It even has the relevant legislation act next to it.

You clearly haven't read the HC yourself. It does not say "MUST NOT", which would indicate a legal requirement. What it actually says (Rule 243) is:

"DO NOT stop or park ... opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space"

There is NO relevant legislation.

Rule 242

You MUST NOT leave your vehicle or trailer in a dangerous position or where it causes any unnecessary obstruction of the road.

Laws RTA 1988 sect 22 & CUR reg 103

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/waiting-and-parking-238-to-252

ontheroad1970

[Deleted User] said:

ontheroad1970 said:

sevenhills said:

The crossroads is in an area of terraced houses, so cars and sometimes vans are parking right on the junction. I don't believe there are any parking restrictions, I am sure the white markings are visible, but drivers often read the road and cannot see a gap between the parked cars.

Not sure if it's a 20/30 mph area, it could well be 20mph.

Take photocopies of the relevant section of the Highway Code with the instruction - You MUST NOT  park within 10m of a junction.  It even has the relevant legislation act next to it.

You clearly haven't read the HC yourself. It does not say "MUST NOT", which would indicate a legal requirement. What it actually says (Rule 243) is:

"DO NOT stop or park ... opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space"

There is NO relevant legislation.

I have.  It's been a while, but I remember grabbing a copy of the HC and showing it to someone who had made it awkward for my brother to reverse up the narrow cul-de-sac road my parents lived on.  At the time there were no yellow lines, there definitely was a legislation marker by it in the appendix.  

So I used slightly differing terminology.  My point is that the use of imperatives in the HC point to something that is prohibited or prescribed by law.  But keep up your pedantry.