I live on Park Road. The speed limit on this road is 30mph and I often watch traffic go past my home, and always see motorists on their phone, talking or looking down texting, not watching where they are going.
Over time it seems to have got worse. It was school-run time, several mums were speeding with their kids in the car, but those travelling at even higher speeds were those I saw using their mobiles. Around this time a heavy goods vehicle drove past and he had his foot down. Laden or unladen this vehicle would have taken some time to stop.
A couple of days previous to this I was crossing Speyer Avenue (it is a cul-de-sac leading to the old folks’ bungalows just around the corner). As I was crossing the road a car was leaving Speyer Avenue. It came around the corner going quite fast, I gave the lady a hard stare as I was only just halfway across the road, I then watched her as she travelled along Park Road. After about 300-400 feet she mounted the kerb – the two passenger wheels were on the path for some two seconds before she rejoined the road.
She was clearly not looking where she was going and would have taken someone out if they were on the path at the time. She was very lucky this time.
Many drivers get complacent when driving, and seem to forget they are in charge of what could be deemed as a dangerous weapon.
The police sometimes monitor this road and stand in full view with a “watch your speed” sign up to remind drivers of their speed, but this does not deter anyone as they are only there for half an hour and no-one is prosecuted.
This does nothing to slow drivers down. After an hour things are back to normal.
I would like to see speed cameras in operation here or other street calming measures put in place ie: speed ramps as it is a very busy street and quite straight where folk tend to put their foot down.
Neil Bingham
Park Road
Spalding
