What's happening on the A40?
Discussion
RichB said:
18 months ago some guy wipes out half a house just before the ESSO garage in a VW Golf travelling at around 100mph. He and girlfriend were killed, fortunately the occupants of the house were on holiday at the time
The Golf driver won't do that again will he?!!
There was a fatal crash on the A4074 (Reading to Oxford road) a couple of weeks ago.
A few weeks before I had written to the Thames Valley Police asking why a mobile camera van was situated on the Vastern Road in Reading (30mph dual carriageway with pelican crossings at either end - have never seen an accident there) - yet there were no safety measures on the A4074 - where there have been numerous horrendous crashes.
The Safety Camera Partnership wrote back saying there was a speed camera in Caversham (3 miles from the section I referred to) and one mile away in Cane End. It was a ridiculous response!
Now we have yet another fatality. Cause is usually the same - it is a quick road that goes down hill into a wooded section and then has a series of bends. People lose control, off into the trees, the trees win. The section is known locally as 'The 7 bends of death'.
The accident rate (or injury rate) could be reduced by placing two speed cameras in either direction just before the bends. Or they could simply erect armco, so when people do come unstuck they are not head-on into a tree.
But instead the mobile camera is back doing its thing on the Vastern Road at 7am this morning, clocking thousands of motorists doing 35-40mph.
The Safety Camera Partnership seem to care very little about the carnage a few miles away. And happy to keep coining it in in Reading, on what is already a pretty safe, wide, straight, traffic light controlled, section of road.
It is hypocritically, chronically stupid!!!
Rich...puggit said:
Griff2be - wasn't Ali Mitchell at TVSRP was it?
In fairness that bit of the A4074 does have a 50 limit - I stick to it, cos those corners are NASTY.
I hooted the Talivan on Vastern Road today - will do it daily now...
I can't remember who wrote it.
Yes, they did reduce the speed limit to 50mph, from NSL. But that's kind of my point. In this case speed does kill - people exceed the speed limit by a fair old margin, hit an unexpected bend and BANG!! (although in the right car and conditions >70mph is quite comfortable through there, allegedly
) This is a classic stretch of road where enforcing the speed limit would save lives. Not raise revenue, but save lives. Which I thought was the whole point of 'safety' cameras.
The 30mph Vastern Road however, is not, in my view, likely to enjoy a measurably different KSI rate after the mobile van has been there. Especially as I think we established that there have been no fatalities and only one serious injury on Vastern Road.
People die on the A4074. It NEEDS permanent cameras. Or armco. Or both.
tonyrec said:
It was 2 BMW's neither of which were stolen, and they were responsible for the crash.
Meant to post at the time that the lights were not working on the stretch of road where the crash happened, and hadn't been working for some days before. I don't believe this was a factor, but I do wonder about the professionalism of the maintenance on that stretch of road. If I go into town late at night, there inevatibly seems to be some lanes out as work is being done somewhere, so there is no shortage of effort being applied.
Even now the arc lights which they put up to illuminate the road while they were working on the area where the crash happened have been left on (definitely last night the 18th anyhow, we'll see toinght). Makes a nasty distracting white light. I can take responsibility for my own safety and drive accordingly, but if it's all about safety why leave them on.
tonyrec said:
We have info that shows that this driver had been speeding up and then slowing down for the cameras so applying this theory... if there had been a camera at the crash location then the Collision would not have happened as the driver was slowing down for them.
How long is a piece of string?
On the other hand if the cameras weren't there at all the driver wouldn't have been braking and accelerating, therefore he wouldn't have been in that spot at the same time as the other car and therefore the accident wouldn't of happened!
On the other hand had the 4 or 5 cameras been one marked police car he would have been forced to be nearer the speed limit for a lot longer, and possibly not have had the accident. Had the cameras been an unmarked car he would have been pulled over and booked.
Hmmmm still thing more traffic police is the answer.
Chris
ps More traffic police is the answer as long as they don't catch me!
tonyrec said:
As we have all pointed out, speed cameras are NOT the solution....heavy handed Traffic Policing would certainly assist..dont you think
Not generally, I agree - but on this particular stretch of the A4074 they would help!
James j - I'm not talking about one fatality. There have been numerous over the years on this 500yard stretch, and a far higher number of serious injuries.
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