As a pedestrian as well as a driver I sympathise with all sides of the debate on speed and safety on Croydon’s roads.
A 20mph limit on residential side streets and outside schools in term times, etc, surely makes sense.
But then to impose such a low restriction on all other roads is simply to go beyond reasonable – a 30mph maximum is safe and efficient if properly observed and fairly enforced.
What makes any speed dangerous – 20, 25 or 30 mph – is a driver’s inattention and a pedestrian’s failure of basic road sense.
How many times do we see drivers, including those taking children to school, using mobiles or otherwise distracting themselves.
The same can be said of pedestrians not even following basic road safety rules, even with children in their care.
With reasonable restrictions must come fair – not draconian – enforcement alongside effective education. Otherwise we will have drivers tailgating/overtaking others sticking to speed limits (as already happens regularly in my own experience of current 20mph limits elsewhere).
Drivers will continue to use mobiles, pedestrians will still walk out in the road, and let us not forget the frequent dangerous actions of motorcyclists and cyclists too.
We need a proper sensible joined up approach by the council, the police and other authorities; we need drivers, other road users and pedestrians to buy into those reasonable measures, and, most importantly, we need to make our growing culture of risky habits socially unacceptable.
The law simply cannot do it alone.
Sadly, I fear that vested and prejudiced interests and lack of resources will sink any long term, sustainable and beneficial outcome.
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- Send your letters to: letters@croydonguardian.co.uk
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