Speed limit cut on road where two motorists died (From Daily Echo)

Speed limit cut on Bubb Lane in Hedge End where Jimi McIndoe and Geoffrey Smith died

4:00am Monday 18th March 2013 in News By Julian Robinson, Eastleigh Chief Reporter

Jimi McIndoe

COUNCIL chiefs have agreed to lower the speed limit on a Hampshire road where two motorists died in just nine months.

Experts say the 60mph limit currently in place on part of Bubb Lane, Hedge End, should be reduced to 50mph.

Highways bosses made the recommendation based on a number of factors including accident history, average speeds, the amount of development in the area and road length.

The route has been the site of two fatalities in recent years, including motorcyclist Jimi McIndoe and driver Geoffrey Smith.

Mr McIndoe, 37, who had three children and two step-children, was killed when his Yamaha bike collided with a tractor as it was emerging from a gateway in October 2010.

Mr Smith, a 64-year-old mechanic from West End, died after his Land Rover Discovery crashed into a tree in January the same year.

Now members of Hedge End, West End and Botley Local Area Committee have agreed to lower the speed limit.

One objection was received asking for the limit to be lowered even more – to 40mph.

But a report before councillors suggested that “setting a speed limit that is unrealistically low is likely to lead to poor compliance and be of little value without significant enforcement activity”.

It also states that speed surveys showed mean averages of 44.9mph and that Hampshire Constabulary would therefore not back a 40mph limit.