Serious accident closes A31 (From Daily Echo)

It is hard to comment when you don't know all the facts and people are seriously injured or worse. However, it seems to me that maybe a relatively straightforward stretch of road is being blamed for driver errors.

Yep I agree suttonite seems the echo is trying to create another bandwagon to jump on, careful through or John denham will be demanding a public inquiry on it soon...

Suttonite wrote:
It is hard to comment when you don't know all the facts and people are seriously injured or worse. However, it seems to me that maybe a relatively straightforward stretch of road is being blamed for driver errors.

Presumably bad drivers are bad drivers whichever road they are on. As there are so many serious accidents on this road, something must apply to this road that makes their bad driving have a greater impact.
It's easy to blame it all on the quality of the driving, and I agree bad driving should be punished, but something needs to be done to minimise the impact of such driving.
If the solution is a speed limit, it would only work if it is enforced, possibly by average speed cameras.

Introduce a 'Rate my driving' system where each individual can be marked up or down by other road users. Anyone who recieves a negative score of a such magnitude, taking in to consideration their journey length, is automatically banned from driving for a duration suitable to their score. Each individual gets to score other users once for every five miles they do each day. Report on the top 5% and bottom 5% of drivers every week. Power to the People.

Higginz wrote:
Introduce a 'Rate my driving' system where each individual can be marked up or down by other road users. Anyone who recieves a negative score of a such magnitude, taking in to consideration their journey length, is automatically banned from driving for a duration suitable to their score. Each individual gets to score other users once for every five miles they do each day. Report on the top 5% and bottom 5% of drivers every week. Power to the People.

Excellent idea - perhaps you could work out draft costings for such a scheme.

I hope the Lady makes a full recovery. I dont use that road except when going to visit family for a holiday 3 maybe 4 times a year but my experiance is that some drivers drive too fast and too close to the vehicle in front , cars ,vans and lorries too. They also tailgate . Im not always a saint, lol , when driving but do try to keep to the speed limit. The saying more haste less speed comes to mind .

commonsence wrote:
I hope the Lady makes a full recovery. I dont use that road except when going to visit family for a holiday 3 maybe 4 times a year but my experiance is that some drivers drive too fast and too close to the vehicle in front , cars ,vans and lorries too. They also tailgate . Im not always a saint, lol , when driving but do try to keep to the speed limit. The saying more haste less speed comes to mind .

Doesn't tailgating mean driving too close to the car in front?

Average Speed Cameras
thats what is needed 50 mph from the M27 to Ashley Heath the difference between 70mph + and 50 mph is minutes over that stretch is it really worth all of the deaths and injuries not to mention the financial cost of the emergency services but also the traveling public. You can never eradicate accidents altogether but if only one life is saved then it would be worth it.

Huffter wrote:

Higginz wrote: Introduce a 'Rate my driving' system where each individual can be marked up or down by other road users. Anyone who recieves a negative score of a such magnitude, taking in to consideration their journey length, is automatically banned from driving for a duration suitable to their score. Each individual gets to score other users once for every five miles they do each day. Report on the top 5% and bottom 5% of drivers every week. Power to the People.

Excellent idea - perhaps you could work out draft costings for such a scheme.

There are Thinkers and Innovators. There are Planners and Designers. There are Accountants and Architects. There are Builders and Technicians.
I'll come up with the idea. Someone else can sort it out. My work here is done.

There are no bad roads only bad drivers --- sadly the innocent have to pay with their injuries or lives --- wholly due to maniacs driving too fast for the road, traffic or weather conditions.

Too close is less than 2 car lengths away , tailgating is considered less than half a cars length away . CLEAR ?

Higginz wrote:

Huffter wrote:

Higginz wrote: Introduce a 'Rate my driving' system where each individual can be marked up or down by other road users. Anyone who recieves a negative score of a such magnitude, taking in to consideration their journey length, is automatically banned from driving for a duration suitable to their score. Each individual gets to score other users once for every five miles they do each day. Report on the top 5% and bottom 5% of drivers every week. Power to the People.

Excellent idea - perhaps you could work out draft costings for such a scheme.

There are Thinkers and Innovators. There are Planners and Designers. There are Accountants and Architects. There are Builders and Technicians.
I'll come up with the idea. Someone else can sort it out. My work here is done.

You forgot Dreamers and Pillocks...

no point lowering the speed limit to 50 as hardly anyone keeps to that limit further west going towards ferndown

For pity sake wrote:

Higginz wrote:

Huffter wrote:

Higginz wrote: Introduce a 'Rate my driving' system where each individual can be marked up or down by other road users. Anyone who recieves a negative score of a such magnitude, taking in to consideration their journey length, is automatically banned from driving for a duration suitable to their score. Each individual gets to score other users once for every five miles they do each day. Report on the top 5% and bottom 5% of drivers every week. Power to the People.

Excellent idea - perhaps you could work out draft costings for such a scheme.

There are Thinkers and Innovators. There are Planners and Designers. There are Accountants and Architects. There are Builders and Technicians. I'll come up with the idea. Someone else can sort it out. My work here is done.

You forgot Dreamers and Pillocks...

I'll add them in just for you.
Anyone else feeling left out? :)

ohec wrote:
Average Speed Cameras
thats what is needed 50 mph from the M27 to Ashley Heath the difference between 70mph + and 50 mph is minutes over that stretch is it really worth all of the deaths and injuries not to mention the financial cost of the emergency services but also the traveling public. You can never eradicate accidents altogether but if only one life is saved then it would be worth it.

How about upgrading the road to a motorway all the way to Ashley Heath? The sheer volume of traffic warrants it. You will never get rid of all the poor drivers unless radical tactics were engaged, I.E. ban for life

I used to drive this route (A338 on to A31 and off at Junction 1 M27 and back) every day for three years, now I only do it 4 to 6 times per month.

The main issue with this busy road is just that. It now carries more vehicles than it can handle safely. The only way to seriously improve safety would be to extend the M27 through the forest. This can and will not happen because of the forests status.

Many of the near misses I witnessed during the rush hour commute were normally always caused by someone in the left lane doing less than 50. HGV's and the like we generally acknowledge travel slower than 70 because of the enforced limiters, however cars and van travelling slowly would catch drivers unaware, resulting in rapid lane changes and heavy braking.

Another annoyance is that the majority of cars stay in the right hand lane even when the left lane is empty. The result of this behaviour encourages tail gating and eventually under-taking. Education and Traffic Police would cure this issue.

The road is long and fairly boring to drive and it is easy to loss concentration especially at night, reducing the limit to 50 would probably make the road more dangerous.

The lack of cats eye are also a serious problem at night along most of the road.

Congested roads are more prone to accidents. Reduced speed limits do not reduce traffic flow, they just slow it down. Accidents will still happen.

I agree that reducing the speed is not the answer. It rarely is, even though it's the first call for people who do little driving and are probably not confident drivers themselves. Most of those who drive regularly and over longer distances, drive more consistently and safely at higher speeds.

Of the suggestions I have seen, a crawler lane could be helpful going up Picket Hill, but more accidents occur going west and downhill. Perhaps reducing the speed limit on that downhill stretch with the various junctions along that part of the road could be the answer, in spite of what I said above.