The speeding message not getting through

Sarah Saunderson • Published 8 Oct 2009 09:00 0 Comments

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It's appalling that a mother is too frightened to use an approach road into Enniskillen to bring her children to school in the morning.

And it's not just during the morning rush, but any time of day is seen by her as too busy to use the Coa Road.

Her main concern is that people drive too fast on what is a winding road. Coming out of a junction onto the road is "putting your life at risk", she believes. People are failing to adhere to the speed limit. She wants to see action taken before someone is killed.

Her concerns have been backed by local councillors. One councillor has asked for speed bumps to be used on the road and a reduction to the sped limit to 20 miles per hour.

Certainly speed bumps are not the most popular piece of street furniture with motorists but if perception is that the use of the road is becoming extremely dangerous then restrictions should be examined by Roads Service.

Police issue warnings all the time to motorists. At the beginning of school term it was to remind them to give enough time to get to schools and work in the morning. As Autumn is here, motorists are reminded by police to be careful of driving in the wetter weather and in the prolonged hours of darkness.

It seems no matter how grave the warnings, or indeed how many awful accidents there are on our roads, some don't listen. And speeding isn't just a issue with those who open up on the open road. It's in the urban and built up areas it is vitally important to stick to 30mph. This is the area where there are more junctions, more traffic lights, more pedestrians.

The probability of a pedestrian surviving being hit by a car plummets as the speed of the vehicle rises above 30 mph.

So as the mornings and evenings get darker -- be sensible and slow down.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 08 Oct 09

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