I have written to Luton Borough Council requesting speed repeater signs on Dunstable Road Luton, from the traffic lights at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital junction, through to the roundabout at Tesco's, the junction with Poynters Road.
The primary reason I am asking for this is that a man died due to a car accelerating fast away from the lights.
The secondary reasons I am asking for this are that:
- the road is a dual carriageway, and often drivers think that means the national speed limit of 60mph applies (and it doesn't)
- the road was previously 40mph and not all drivers yet realise the limit has changed to 30mph
- as a regular user of that roadway, I am frequently undertaken by speeding motorists, who have clearly lost their patience at having to stay behind me while I drive to the 30mph limit. If it happens regularly to me, then it must happen regularly to others.
Here's hoping they'll listen and the "No Excuse 30mph" signs will be visibly displayed.
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update 11/3/2012
I had a response to this request, and it was that they could not put repeater signs on this road because where there are street lights the speed limit is 30mph. Well, if they're saying it's unlawful to put speed signs up in an urban area, the law is an ass.
I got a further message back from LBC to the effect that they are considering putting in average speed check cameras on that stretch of Dunstable Road, but due to financial reasons cannot put them in for a couple of years. Average speed check cameras makes sense to me.
Interesting. Just after it changed from 40mph to 30mph, mobile speed cameras (the type in a van) were often placed along the road.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I was caught doing about 38mph by one.
A similar situation came about some years back on Boscombe Rd.
The road used to be awful, with speed bumps. But had a 40mph limit.
They resurfaced the road,removed the speed bumps and reset the limit to 30.
Again I was done for doing just under 40, this time by a pair of policemen with a radar gun.
At the time I complained about the lack of logic in the resurface combined with the lower limit and lack of signing that a change had occurred.
The policeman's answer was that where a road was urban and unsigned, the urban default limit of 30 applies.
Now, before anyone just assumes I'm a serial speeder, let me quash that.
These 2 events were the only time I've been done for speeding in the last 25 years and I'm not a boy racer ... I'm now 52!
I obviously agree that lowering the speed limit has to be a good thing for road safety, but relying on everyone just knowing a change has happened, and instincively knowing that the unsigned urban 30mph limit applies is just easy revenue.