New speed limit on A40 into town
Discussion
The signs are covered up at the moment but it looks like the 50 limit is now going to start just after Northolt areodrome, and just before the Polish war memorial slip road. That is roughly one mile sooner than is currently the case. There are a number of suspicious trenches which have been dug across the road at that point (and badly repaired possibly causing problems for motorcyclists) which may be carrying power across the road, so a scamera is not out of the question. Although there is an overbridge a little furhter on which would be an ideal site for a talivan, if that is there wont.
This only seems to be happening on the eastbound carriageway, i.e. going into town.
This is really all the fault of my favourite local authority, Ealing Council. The bus lanes they installed in Northolt cause stationery traffic queueing back onto the A40. To combat this they made the inside lane an exit only lane, which leads to the traffic on that lane which doesn't want to exit to have to rapidly get into the next lane, causing problems. Particularly for those who don't know the area well.
Amount of difference this new limit will make. Almost certainly zero. There was another fatal on the A40 last Bank Holiday Monday when a chav Toyota Carina collided with another car and went off the road on the Westbound carriage way opposite the Hoover building. One young lad was left dying in the car whilst his "mates" legged it from the scene. You can read about it here:-
www.ealingtimes.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.593744.0.cops_hunt_survivors_in_a40_death_smash.php
This only seems to be happening on the eastbound carriageway, i.e. going into town.
This is really all the fault of my favourite local authority, Ealing Council. The bus lanes they installed in Northolt cause stationery traffic queueing back onto the A40. To combat this they made the inside lane an exit only lane, which leads to the traffic on that lane which doesn't want to exit to have to rapidly get into the next lane, causing problems. Particularly for those who don't know the area well.
Amount of difference this new limit will make. Almost certainly zero. There was another fatal on the A40 last Bank Holiday Monday when a chav Toyota Carina collided with another car and went off the road on the Westbound carriage way opposite the Hoover building. One young lad was left dying in the car whilst his "mates" legged it from the scene. You can read about it here:-
www.ealingtimes.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.593744.0.cops_hunt_survivors_in_a40_death_smash.php
I can't see it's going to make a lot of difference whilst they still have an airport at Northolt -- people tend to be reluctant to put laser and radar devices at the end of the runway (with good reason), so that will always be a fast section.
As far as I can tell driving that road into town, traffic flow is effectively 90 to the first camera, braking to 60 (why?!) the gradually speeding up to 70 again through the 50 section until the 40 section near the Hoover building where the great lane swapping adventure starts (get left or right, sitting in the middle is a nightmare here).
Crawl through the Gypsy Corner roadworks but get right early to take advantage of the number of lanes changing, and then speeding increases after Savoy Circus, braking briefly for the speed camera, and the regular speedvan site just before the start of the flyover to a humming run across town at 70+
In short this road is a nightmare. The speed limits rarely match the traffic flow, and the really dangerous points (pedestrians and cars in conflict) are poorly monitored.
As far as I can tell driving that road into town, traffic flow is effectively 90 to the first camera, braking to 60 (why?!) the gradually speeding up to 70 again through the 50 section until the 40 section near the Hoover building where the great lane swapping adventure starts (get left or right, sitting in the middle is a nightmare here).
Crawl through the Gypsy Corner roadworks but get right early to take advantage of the number of lanes changing, and then speeding increases after Savoy Circus, braking briefly for the speed camera, and the regular speedvan site just before the start of the flyover to a humming run across town at 70+
In short this road is a nightmare. The speed limits rarely match the traffic flow, and the really dangerous points (pedestrians and cars in conflict) are poorly monitored.
The A40 is without a doubt the most dangerous road that i Patrol.
Im talking about what i deal with on a day to day basis and not about volume of cars to Collision ratio.
Collisions on this road range from minor Damage Onlys right through to scattered body parts.
We must ask the question......wh y does this happen on a near as damn it straight road consisting of at least 2 lanes. Its not only because of heavy Traffic flow, we have some right old corkers first thing on a Sunday etc
In fact as luck would have it im off to patrol it again this afternoon, so if anyone sees a Silver BMW then the chances are it will be me.....
Im talking about what i deal with on a day to day basis and not about volume of cars to Collision ratio.
Collisions on this road range from minor Damage Onlys right through to scattered body parts.
We must ask the question......wh y does this happen on a near as damn it straight road consisting of at least 2 lanes. Its not only because of heavy Traffic flow, we have some right old corkers first thing on a Sunday etc
In fact as luck would have it im off to patrol it again this afternoon, so if anyone sees a Silver BMW then the chances are it will be me.....
PetrolTed said:
Tony, what would your prefered means of improving safety on that road be? Would it be reduced speed? (I'm guessing the answer is yet, but are the accidents caused by people obeying the limit anyway?)
Ted,
The answer would have to be more High Viz Policing and Unmarked Patrols.
A lot of the Collisions that ive either reported or heard about have been caused by a mixture of excessive speed and bad driving.
We tend to get Collisions covering the whole spectrum,ranging from the odd idiot when the road is clear trying to see who handles better, himself or his car/Bike, to the person who is changing lanes to weave through the traffic and has no regard for his own safety never mind anyone elses.
I almost forgot, people who break down and start to change their wheels in the live carriageway.....hoping that someone else has seen them
If we manage to spend a few hours on the road this afternoon without deviating, i will report back tomorrow with a psynopsis of what we have been involved in.
If i had a choice though, it would be Unmarked patrols......one thing for sure is that you would never stop writing.
In answer to the first part of your question though, i think that the 50mph limit should start at the Polish War Mem into Town and not the Target, but the out of Town change to Nationals just west of the Target at the top of the hill should stay.
Certainly the Northolt straight is a problem with speed (National Limit), but its no different to any other "Fast Road" and i dont see a need to change.
Speed limits should not be lowered because of a few people who cant drive safely......for every one of those, there are a lot more that can drive safely and within their limits.
"If we manage to spend a few hours on the road this afternoon without deviating, i will report back tomorrow with a psynopsis of what we have been involved in.
In answer to the first part of your question though, i think that the 50mph limit should start at the Polish War Mem into Town and not the Target, but the out of Town change to Nationals just west of the Target at the top of the hill should stay.
Certainly the Northolt straight is a problem with speed (National Limit), but its no different to any other "Fast Road" and i dont see a need to change.
Speed limits should not be lowered because of a few people who cant drive safely......for every one of those, there are a lot more that can drive safely and within their limits.
[/quote]" Interesting post Tony ,
If you get the chance to tell us how you got on this afternoon that will be great.
Also heartened to note that you do'nt. see the need for the limit to be reduced.
At the right time / road conditions etc. that stretch can be safely driven at a good 75-80 which most competant drivers (and I suspect sensible BIB) would have no issue with.
Tonyrec said:
Certainly the Northolt straight is a problem with speed (National Limit), but its no different to any other "Fast Road" and i dont see a need to change.
Speed limits should not be lowered because of a few people who cant drive safely......for every one of those, there are a lot more that can drive safely and within their limits.
The problem with that road, as already pointed out is its location and the people using it. I've seen every kind of idiot on that stretch of road and while they are using it the speed limit will make no difference at all - especially since no-one seems to observe the speed limit of any lane discipline. The permanent traffic jams at polish memorial and target roundabouts don't do any favours either.
I've run out of patience personally with the behaviour there and the sheer incompetence but have little option on using the road. Just to improve my impressions last weekend I had a woman drive into me (on foot) as I tried to cross the A312 - the worst bit being she didn't stop the first time she hit me (a gentle knock which i side stepped) - I had to bang my fist on the bodywork before she noticed... That is a prime example of the standard of driving in that part of town. I can't vouch for anywhere else as I steadfast refuse to drive into the city anymore.
Well ive just got home from an unusually quiet tour of duty patrolling the A40 and environs.
No Collisions to deal with at all
We didnt spend as long as we normally do on the A40 because we came across a suicidal person and ended up at Ealing Hosp for a couple of hours all told.
But we did deal with the following,
4 broken down vehicles - 3 of which were towed off by ourselves.
One person reported for driving WDC (several undertakes at speed and what i would call a good hit!).
One blatant Red Light on the Target Roundabout.
Two hours worth of statements and at last knockings we managed to avoid a trip to near Stonehenge (cant say anymore on that one).
All in all, the day did go very quickly and i look forward to what tomorrow brings.
No Collisions to deal with at all
We didnt spend as long as we normally do on the A40 because we came across a suicidal person and ended up at Ealing Hosp for a couple of hours all told.
But we did deal with the following,
4 broken down vehicles - 3 of which were towed off by ourselves.
One person reported for driving WDC (several undertakes at speed and what i would call a good hit!).
One blatant Red Light on the Target Roundabout.
Two hours worth of statements and at last knockings we managed to avoid a trip to near Stonehenge (cant say anymore on that one).
All in all, the day did go very quickly and i look forward to what tomorrow brings.
axj said:
Tonyrec (or anyone else who e.g,have such a "company car"
I see from your earlier post that you were in a silver (presumably marked police car ) do you think that
this colour stands out a lot less than the traditional white "jam sandwich" design ?
The cars are brighter now because as well as the Silver paint, Trafpol cars have Battenburg Livery........very very striking, although some motorists still fail to see us.
Tonyrec said:
Tonyrec (or anyone else who e.g,have such a "company car"
I see from your earlier post that you were in a silver (presumably marked police car ) do you think that
this colour stands out a lot less than the traditional white "jam sandwich" design ?
The cars are brighter now because as well as the Silver paint, Trafpol cars have Battenburg Livery........very very striking, although some motorists still fail to see us.
What isn't quite so easy to spot is a couple of people standing on the pedestrian footbridge by B&Q, pointing what was either an LTI-20-20 or a film camera back down the carriageway towards town. They were there this morning when I went past at about 8.50 a.m. or so. Given this is a country run by Tony B Liar I know what my guess as to what it was.
Be interesting to have my suspicions confirmed one way or the other.
If anyone was at that location with a Laser then i really dont have a problem with that.
In my experience of the location, people come flying down far in excess of the 50 limit and use big brakes to lose speed back to the limit in time for the Gatso. This causes untold problems as you can imagine.
I cant believe though that it would have been that productive at that time of the rush hour.......its normally bumper to bumper and the minor pants only collisions occur.......unless theres a Kamikaze Motorcycle rider weaving amongst the traffic. They quite often end up under the wheels of a Heavy...that is by far and away our biggest problem during these times.
In my experience of the location, people come flying down far in excess of the 50 limit and use big brakes to lose speed back to the limit in time for the Gatso. This causes untold problems as you can imagine.
I cant believe though that it would have been that productive at that time of the rush hour.......its normally bumper to bumper and the minor pants only collisions occur.......unless theres a Kamikaze Motorcycle rider weaving amongst the traffic. They quite often end up under the wheels of a Heavy...that is by far and away our biggest problem during these times.
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