SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Following on from the thread about my cat getting run over a week ago, I am getting fed up with the fact that our road seems to be used as a racetrack and would love to hear anybody's suggestions on how to deal with it.

I guess it is not straight forward as there are a few issues. It is a straight piece of road approx 600 metres long. At one end is a blind rise that dips down to the village near a school. At the other end is a hill leading up to a few other villages. All the houses are on one side of the road, the other side is just fields and so apparently because of this, it is difficult to enforce the 40MPH speed limit

I have seen cars and motorbikes doing near a ton down the road and apart from our first cat that was killed outright a while ago, charlie recently, there are have been 2 human fatalities over the years and numerous other pets.

The council have placed one of those flashing speed aware signs a few months ago but they only had it up for a week or so and then it went somewhere else. There does not seem to be any interest from them in enforcing this.

Now I hate speed bumps with a passion but I was wondering what other measures there could be to calm the traffic down. Remember that this road is also used by some large lorries, the local bus and quite a few tractors so any calming measures would have to take these lot into account.

Would a petition to the 70 odd houses be a start ? Or should I just stand out there like I normally do and shout at the speeders

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Commission me to stand outside your house and bore all the speeders to death with my endless waffle and moaning

Slows the buggers down, and gives nobody reason to complain at me on here - 2 birds, one stone; I thankyou

jasey

Get onto your local Safety Camera Partnership and get them involved - also - when they say not interested - not enough revenue from that stretch - write to your local paper telling them that the SCAM errs are NOT interested in road safety just raising £££ for the Government to pay off their non existent mortgages etc.

Probably wont make a blind bit of difference - but you never know

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Whats the name of the minister for transport? Was on Top Gear, something Ladymann?

Maybe construct a letter to himself and send a copy to your local paper (stating that you have sent the following to him).

Surely that would stir a little interest mate (If you don't take up my first offer ofcourse )

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

All good ideas (well aprt from COB's one )

Keep them coming .

Just out of interest , what calming measures are available ?
I have :

Speed bumps (hate them )
Narrowing of road in several places with priority changed on both of them
Rumble strips (no exactly useful)
Speed camera

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

*Ahem* second idea was serious

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

Big picture of a naked bird on the side of your house should slow them down - they may not be paying attention to the road though!

Or as already suggested - contact the 'Safety sCamera Partnership'.

SunnySideUp

Put a bright yellow box on a pole outside your house, claim it is a birdbox ... will look like a new Speed Camera ..... sorted

Anyway, I thought it was SN Policy to do whatever speed you liked??

slipstream_uk

iTrader: (1)

Seen this on the telly, about someone making a fake speed camera. They painted up a box with similar shape and size and stuck it in there garden, which ran along the road side.
Form a distance it looked like the real thing, and it did slow the traffic down.

Other idea, just make potholes all over the place, that will slow anyone down.

exceed

In all honesty I don't think I could stomach a speed camera anywhere near my house but I like the narrowing of the road in several places although some will see it as a slalom to test out how fast their car can respond to turns . And a big no to speed bumps! I can't really think of anything except maybe getting your local school to get the younger kids to draw signs and the best one gets put on a post saying slow down or something. Who could resist the drawings of a kid saying slow down ?

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

It does actually work round here - the kids piccy thing.

MattW

Get a white van and paint a black square on the back

[-(o)-]

iTrader: (1)

Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Personally I hate any measure that makes life more difficult because idiots have been given freedoms that they lack the brain capacity to use. Consequently I'm angry at just about everything these days.

- Speed bumps will increase noise, pollution and destroy your tyres/suspension.

- Those narrowings are dangerous - they're always littered with evidence of crashes, normally caused by the numpties they're designed to stop.

- Rumble strips - ?!

- Scamera looks like the only option, if they're sighted correctly they are effective.... but of course that way they don't make any money

Good luck.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

there are enough potholes along here but the idea of the fake camera is good but might be an excuse for the good lady to decorate it with xmas lights come december

Spot on. I cant stand a camera on my driveway and the narrowing is my favourite idea as long as the farm vehicles can negotiate them


And COB, yes I liked your second idea

HankScorpio

Cutout police car

Ananova - Cut-out cops

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

How wide is the road? Buy a couple of old transit vans and make a chicane, or better still if able to, a couple of lorry trailers.

BOB.T

Get a flash from a camera and mount it discreetly at the end of your drive, then just set it off when someone speeds past

Or send Zoe out in a low cut top...where do you live again?

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

We could all park on the road outside your house and show what responsible "boy racers" we are by blocking the road and slowing down all the p***ks in white vans and mid-range dull-as-dishwater normal cars who drive like idiots.



Okay, probably not a suitable solution! But you have my sympathy, we have a similar problem on the road outside my folks house that I posted on here some time ago. It certainly puts speeding in populated areas into perspective after you've held a kids head together waiting for the paramedics to arrive as I had to on our road last year.

Leslie

As I explained Swiss, we have a similar problem here. We have a main road at the front of the house with a 40 limit and a one track road at the back of the house. People come off the main road onto the back road at unabated speed which is usually about 50! This really is far too fast for this road-it is two way as well!.

What is really unbelievable is that the council recently put up de-restriction signs up at the beginning of the one track road!!! When I asked why they said they had to according to the RTA!

Further down the main road has been restricted to 20 mph quite unecessarily, 30 is as safe as houses there.

They feel that there is nothing necessary for them that they need to do, I suppose it would take a major accident for that to change.

I sometimes feel that I need to have a bucket full of something nasty to chuck at the cars to slow them down Luckily so far Fearless Freddie is very quick to get out of the way if he hears a vehicle approaching.

Les

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

I think your road needs traffic calming, speed bumps wouldn't work on there and there is nowhere for a camera van to park up. It's the only useful thing that I can think of for that road

StickyMicky

what a cracking idea!

Billgtt

Stand outside your house with a high-vis vest on, pointing a hairdryer at the oncoming traffic!

r32

Talk with the local traffic police, from my conversations with them they are open to suggestions to visit on occassion with a mobile camera set up. They should do this if requested.
Amazing how we all dont like cameras unless we want one in our street, how ever dont go for road narrowing or speed humps, they will both cause problems for locals.
Sadly a cat run over at 20 is just as dead and flat as one run over at 50.
Dont forget 90% of shaved ****** prefer whiskers .....................

Leslie

That is good thinking.

Les

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Drives me mad as well, I have told two of the neighbours off for speeding on our road, a cul de sac full of kids, older blokes who drive big cars and should know better. I also shout at people who come down, realise its a Cul De Sac and then hoof it in disgust, one guy in an Audi Cabrio, slowed down and reversed when I shouted "Slow Down you ****", thought better of it when he saw my spade and me advancing towards his shiny paintwork

At the old house, to ut a long story short I got into a squabble with a local resident in a 328i, he made a point of speeding even more than normal when he saw me, flicking me the bird, what he hadnt anticipated was that I worked for the Police and had a moan at the Inspector at the local nick, a very patient copper waited for the bloke and got him, at 64 in a 30 I expected recriminations but never saw him again, he moved, not sure what he got for his double the limit and a bit.

It is frustrating and perhaps we all need to look at our driving as what seems ok from the isolation of a modern car is worrying or downright scary for pedestrians, residents, cyclists etc. I have been guilty of this in the past, sometimes they dont realise so education is key here.

Complain at your local nick, mither the council but the terrible thing is they wait for a fatal accident before they do anything, by which time its too late.

I am currently worried about our pup, given a chance he shoots out and will get splattered, keep telling the kids to shut the door and gate but they cant get it through their thick heads, along with their mates, they than blame each other, really dont want to have to go through what you have been through Swiss.

MJW

Try one of these babies :

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I tell you what was a interesting occrrance that worked. A guy in the block of flats (2 storey by a main 30mph road) where gran lives started parking his 7.5t flatbed truck in the road.

Now this road is a busy main road , but traffic hurtles past at 40+mph (including the buses). Since (legally) parking the truck there, it acted as a barrier forcing cars to slow down to pass round it.

And even better, during the several months of being parked there, it was hit by two drunk drivers on seperate occasions and one TWOC'er, all disabling/writing off their cars. That truck alone in the space of two month removed three dangerous drivers off the road and slowed down countless speeders

Unfortunately he had to shift it as his operator's licence expired, and he was getting fed up of having to straigten the rear bumper (never damaged anything else - even the lights! )

So based on that, buy an old truck and park it in a prime position


I have a problem as well; mainly its mums on the school-run.

GC8WRX

Mums on the school run do my head in, why drive around in a massive 2.7 tonne discovery when you can barely see over the steering wheel and you have one child in the car?

Not to mention women generally have no concept of how big there vehicle is, and either refuse to go through gaps big enough for combine harvester, or try to squeeze through gaps my scoob would have trouble getting through.


They should all be in minis, dont they realise it would be easier on every single person on the road if they got school mums out of 4x4's?


Do my ******* head in they do grrrrrrrr!

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Spot on Leslie . Two fatalaties obviously is not enough for them to do anything..yet but maybe that is because non of the residents have complaiend enough over the years..who knows

I did get a speeding twonk once with my jetwash when I was out cleaning the car ..he braked obviously thinking to have a word but then decided better of it

It certainly does Paul. You know the road well and the only thing we can think of is to invite the local coppers along and to use our driveway. they are more than welcome as long as we split the money from the fines

Already thought of that, but knowing my luck I would get nicked