Police to target specific roads in driver crackdown (From Daily Echo)

Good news as driving is not a pleasant
experience with the number of lunatic drivers on the road.

They should try Butts Rd... some right idiots come down here especially on motor cycles! One day there'll be an awful accident and have had a few already especially one idiotic joy rider going right through my neighbours front room window! Luckily they caught the little ****!

This should be the norm...not a crackdown. Our road are becoming increasingly busy and there are a lot of drivers out there who drive too fast or dangerously with not a police car in sight and the fact is that they are more likely to get away with it than be caught.

Having recently spent a lot more time than usual driving across the City I am appalled at the speed some drivers go BUT - the article refers to roads where more bike/car accidents occur. Hmm. Crackdown could be good, so long as they aren't just targetting drivers and hit bike riders and pedestrians just as hard. Have come to really hate Shirley high Street, to the extent I'll divert to avoid when shops open. As I said the last month I have done a lot of cross town driving(hardly done any in the last 4 years) and the number of cyclists jumping red lights, giving no signals, riding off pavements without looking, riding the wrong way on the carriageway and not having lights seems to have increased exponentially. This is not to condone a general standard of driving which makes one relieved to drive elsewhere.

Why let them know in advance where they will be targetting. There are a lot of offences along Shirley High Street every day.

I hope this includes illegal parking and parking on pavements, this is a major cause of congestion on Shirley High St, oh and buses not pulling into the curb!

tootle wrote:
Having recently spent a lot more time than usual driving across the City I am appalled at the speed some drivers go BUT - the article refers to roads where more bike/car accidents occur. Hmm. Crackdown could be good, so long as they aren't just targetting drivers and hit bike riders and pedestrians just as hard. Have come to really hate Shirley high Street, to the extent I'll divert to avoid when shops open. As I said the last month I have done a lot of cross town driving(hardly done any in the last 4 years) and the number of cyclists jumping red lights, giving no signals, riding off pavements without looking, riding the wrong way on the carriageway and not having lights seems to have increased exponentially. This is not to condone a general standard of driving which makes one relieved to drive elsewhere.

I have had assurances (through both the Council and the Police) that bad cycling is targeted.

I would disagree that cycling offences have increased (with the exception of pavement riding which has increased in some areas - notably Shirley High st, Portswood, and the Itchen Bridge).

I've done general counts myself since 2009 and unlit cycling is decreasing in my experience. I spend over 5 hours a week on the local roads. You have to look at the city as a whole, and all through the day.

tootle wrote:
Having recently spent a lot more time than usual driving across the City I am appalled at the speed some drivers go BUT - the article refers to roads where more bike/car accidents occur. Hmm. Crackdown could be good, so long as they aren't just targetting drivers and hit bike riders and pedestrians just as hard. Have come to really hate Shirley high Street, to the extent I'll divert to avoid when shops open. As I said the last month I have done a lot of cross town driving(hardly done any in the last 4 years) and the number of cyclists jumping red lights, giving no signals, riding off pavements without looking, riding the wrong way on the carriageway and not having lights seems to have increased exponentially. This is not to condone a general standard of driving which makes one relieved to drive elsewhere.

As a cyclist I agree something should be done to cover all road users with this crackdown and not just motorists as it also ticks me off everytime I see a cyclist run a red, going the wrong way or trying to be a ninja in training, next time I have some spare money, I'll go to poundland, buy all the bike light sets off the shelf and when I see a cyclist riding without lights as it's getting dark or is dark, I'll hand them a set of lights with some batteries if they don't come with any, a few quid is nothing compared to potentially saving a life, wouldn't you agree?

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

tootle wrote:
Having recently spent a lot more time than usual driving across the City I am appalled at the speed some drivers go BUT - the article refers to roads where more bike/car accidents occur. Hmm. Crackdown could be good, so long as they aren't just targetting drivers and hit bike riders and pedestrians just as hard. Have come to really hate Shirley high Street, to the extent I'll divert to avoid when shops open. As I said the last month I have done a lot of cross town driving(hardly done any in the last 4 years) and the number of cyclists jumping red lights, giving no signals, riding off pavements without looking, riding the wrong way on the carriageway and not having lights seems to have increased exponentially. This is not to condone a general standard of driving which makes one relieved to drive elsewhere.

As a cyclist I agree something should be done to cover all road users with this crackdown and not just motorists as it also ticks me off everytime I see a cyclist run a red, going the wrong way or trying to be a ninja in training, next time I have some spare money, I'll go to poundland, buy all the bike light sets off the shelf and when I see a cyclist riding without lights as it's getting dark or is dark, I'll hand them a set of lights with some batteries if they don't come with any, a few quid is nothing compared to potentially saving a life, wouldn't you agree?

IIRC the Police did the same last November, that lead to a reduction.

The police should target Itchen Bridge, as one poster noted cyclists ride on the pavement there and I believe it's partly because some traffic does 50/60mph across that bridge.
Northam bridge on the other hand is just a money spinner, there are already 2 fixed cameras nearby and heavy traffic most times preventing excessive speeding.
Bassett Avenue, Hazel road and Thomas Lewis Way are all places where I have regularly witnessed speeds 30/40% higher than the limit.

peenut81 wrote:
The police should target Itchen Bridge, as one poster noted cyclists ride on the pavement there and I believe it's partly because some traffic does 50/60mph across that bridge.
Northam bridge on the other hand is just a money spinner, there are already 2 fixed cameras nearby and heavy traffic most times preventing excessive speeding.
Bassett Avenue, Hazel road and Thomas Lewis Way are all places where I have regularly witnessed speeds 30/40% higher than the limit.

I ride the Itchen every week. There have been a few times a week when drivers come into the cycle lane approaching the toll booth (I presume its because they're faffing for money), or further down when the traffic queues for the booth they stop in the lane.

The lane isnt that wide so it does lead to consternation.

That's right Echo, forewarn persistent offenders so they know which roads to avoid!