In January, a 19 year old male driver crashed his aged Cotroën Saxo into the Crown Hotel, Llandegla. This in spite of the naturally speed reducing effect of the traffic signals in place there since 2005. No one else was involved.
Perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions but... I smell Boy Racer.
What happened next was a call from the community for a speed limit. The council consulted in February and, hey presto, here is the result. To be fair, though, the police were also calling for a reduction in speeds. But the police are enforcers. They're no more qualified to decide upon the actual speed than am I.
Earlier this week, there was no speed limit along the A525 that skirts Llandegla. Today there is. It's set at 40 mph over a 2.3 mile section. It's a stretch of road I know well. The long lead in from the west towards the signalled crossroads doesn't "feel" like 40 but I'm no expert. It results in an extra minute's travel, each way. What's frustrating will be the number who overtake because 40 will seem slow to them but then stick at 50 thereafter rather than the national speed limit.
Whether we like it or not, boy racers are less inclined to "behave" even where a speed limit is imposed. Indeed, they are the ones likely to ignore a low limit. Yet, it is this class of driver for whom the limit is set in the first place.
On January 7th, we predicted that the stretch of the A525 between the top of Nant y Garth and Four Crosses would become 50. In the future, it might still but certainly the central section is now set at 10 mph lower.
The fine weather today also brought out the first bikers of the season. Further along the road, by the fishery, there was a crash involving a bike (you could see it from the higher lane along which traffic diverted, past the mountain bike centre). Given the general A525 biker antics already on display that afternoon, it was probable that speed was the cause or significant contributory factor.
The crash took place east of Llandegla, along a length of national speed limit, between Llandegla's 40 and the Wrexham council's new 50 mph zone at Four Crosses. January's Crown Inn boy racer didn't actually injure himself whereas the biker did. How long then will it be for the rest of the A525 locally to be set at a lower limit? Another example of the sensible majority paying for the the stupidity of the few?
And will your average summer weekend motorcyclists take any notice, anyway? The annual number of bikers killed or seriously injured has remained constant for more than 20 years. You could argue that this places in question such initiatives as Arrive Alive/Go Safe but what it actually says is what we all see and know: high risk takers such as bikers (and under 25 males, where the most common cause of death is a road crash) ignore safety measures such as traffic speeds. This is becasue they know best. Not.
There are reports that Four Crosses will also be traffic light controlled
Perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions but... I smell Boy Racer.
What happened next was a call from the community for a speed limit. The council consulted in February and, hey presto, here is the result. To be fair, though, the police were also calling for a reduction in speeds. But the police are enforcers. They're no more qualified to decide upon the actual speed than am I.
Whether we like it or not, boy racers are less inclined to "behave" even where a speed limit is imposed. Indeed, they are the ones likely to ignore a low limit. Yet, it is this class of driver for whom the limit is set in the first place.
On January 7th, we predicted that the stretch of the A525 between the top of Nant y Garth and Four Crosses would become 50. In the future, it might still but certainly the central section is now set at 10 mph lower.
The fine weather today also brought out the first bikers of the season. Further along the road, by the fishery, there was a crash involving a bike (you could see it from the higher lane along which traffic diverted, past the mountain bike centre). Given the general A525 biker antics already on display that afternoon, it was probable that speed was the cause or significant contributory factor.
The crash took place east of Llandegla, along a length of national speed limit, between Llandegla's 40 and the Wrexham council's new 50 mph zone at Four Crosses. January's Crown Inn boy racer didn't actually injure himself whereas the biker did. How long then will it be for the rest of the A525 locally to be set at a lower limit? Another example of the sensible majority paying for the the stupidity of the few?
And will your average summer weekend motorcyclists take any notice, anyway? The annual number of bikers killed or seriously injured has remained constant for more than 20 years. You could argue that this places in question such initiatives as Arrive Alive/Go Safe but what it actually says is what we all see and know: high risk takers such as bikers (and under 25 males, where the most common cause of death is a road crash) ignore safety measures such as traffic speeds. This is becasue they know best. Not.
There are reports that Four Crosses will also be traffic light controlled
Tags:
Traffic