Highways Agency to review A31 speed limit after death of Jade Clark

7:00am Monday 18th March 2013 in New Forest By Echo Reporter

Jade Clark Jade Clark

THE Highways Agency says it will now review the speed limit on a notorious stretch of the A31 following the death of a Hampshire teenager.

Residents and councillors have been calling for a cut from 70mph to 50mph at Ringwood following a series of serious accidents.

Jade Clark, 16, from Ringwood, was killed when she was knocked off her red scooter in a collision involving a light coloured Volvo XC90 last month.

Ringwood Town Council has been campaigning for a 50mph restriction between Picket Post and the Ashley Heath roundabout but had been told by the Highways Agency that the casualty rate was not high enough to justify it.

Now the agency has told the Daily Echo it will review the situation.

A spokesman said: “Safe roads are our top priority and we work hard to understand why incidents occur and do all we can to reduce them. We will continue to keep safety on the A31 continually under review and have made a commitment to Ringwood Town Council that we will further review the speed limits.”

New Forest district and Ringwood town councillor Cllr Michael Thierry said: “I welcome the fact they are going to review the situation on the A31. Quite what they decide following their review remains to be seen.

“We believe a temporary reduction in the speed limit would help ease the number of accidents there. We know not everyone will abide by the speed limit but it will make many slow down.

“The town council is not going to stop – the campaign will go on.”

New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne added: “I welcome this move by the Highways Agency but that doesn’t prevent me from pursuing my requests for a meeting with the minister and the town council.”

He said the stretch in question was through an urban area and therefore should have a 50mph limit on it in exactly the same way the Spur Road through Bournemouth does.

Jade’s funeral will take place at Bournemouth Crematorium on Friday at 3pm.

Her family has asked mourners to make donations to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service in memory of the former member of Ringwood’s Young Firefighters Association.

Comments(9)

sotonwinch09 says...
11:37am Mon 18 Mar 13

The speed limit is fine. Just ban 30mph restricted vehicles from using such fast roads.

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ohec says...
12:31pm Mon 18 Mar 13

sotonwinch09 wrote:
The speed limit is fine. Just ban 30mph restricted vehicles from using such fast roads.
Sorry i totally disagree with you as far as the speed limit is concerned, this latest tragic accident is one of many many accidents on the A31 and until they bring the A31 up to motorway standards then the speed limit should be reduced.
On the subject of speed restricted scooters etc 50cc that is where the anomaly arrises speed restricted scooters are not allowed on motorways so why are they allowed on A roads with the same speed limit as a motorway, the A31 is not a motorway so legally a restricted scooter can use it, it can't be classified as a motorway as it doesn't meet the criteria and if you ban restricted scooters you would also have to ban cyclist, purely from the practical side you would have to erect signs at every junction at the very least. And even if they did reduce the speed limit it would be pointless unless it was enforced and the only way to do that would be speed cameras.

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biggus2 says...
1:45pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Reduce the speed limit to 40 up until the A338 Fordingbridge junction and enforce it with average speed cameras, Simples

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Torchie1 says...
2:20pm Mon 18 Mar 13

ohec wrote:
sotonwinch09 wrote:
The speed limit is fine. Just ban 30mph restricted vehicles from using such fast roads.
Sorry i totally disagree with you as far as the speed limit is concerned, this latest tragic accident is one of many many accidents on the A31 and until they bring the A31 up to motorway standards then the speed limit should be reduced.
On the subject of speed restricted scooters etc 50cc that is where the anomaly arrises speed restricted scooters are not allowed on motorways so why are they allowed on A roads with the same speed limit as a motorway, the A31 is not a motorway so legally a restricted scooter can use it, it can't be classified as a motorway as it doesn't meet the criteria and if you ban restricted scooters you would also have to ban cyclist, purely from the practical side you would have to erect signs at every junction at the very least. And even if they did reduce the speed limit it would be pointless unless it was enforced and the only way to do that would be speed cameras.
Very slow moving vehicles like farm tractors, heavy recovery, large mobile cranes, heavy transporters etc etc etc are allowed to use this road and even though they are easily spotted, the law requires them to display rotating/pulsing orange lights to warn other road users of their reduced speed. Perhaps the lawmakers just relied on common sense instead of legislating for cyclists and moped riders.

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bazzeroz says...
2:29pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Its all very well reducing the speed limit. You have to enforce it as well, good luck! In my view the reduced speed limit should start on the M27 just after the Salisbury junction. Reduce it to 60 then 50 half a mile on and then 40 from then on. Lorries are always slow (when loaded) off the west bound A31 due to the long slog of the hill. Once again its the enforcing that's the problem

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downfader says...
2:54pm Mon 18 Mar 13

sotonwinch09 wrote:
The speed limit is fine. Just ban 30mph restricted vehicles from using such fast roads.
Its the only route to travel east-west for those local residents. You'd be forcing people into nearly a 40 MILE detour.

I dont think its acceptable to ban anything there

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Torchie1 says...
4:15pm Mon 18 Mar 13

downfader wrote:
sotonwinch09 wrote:
The speed limit is fine. Just ban 30mph restricted vehicles from using such fast roads.
Its the only route to travel east-west for those local residents. You'd be forcing people into nearly a 40 MILE detour.

I dont think its acceptable to ban anything there
I'm always surprised that I don't see any bicycles or Pony and Traps enjoying the scenic views along the A31.

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Forest Resident says...
6:20pm Mon 18 Mar 13

If only drivers would drive according to the conditions (traffic volume, type, weather, etc) then a speed limit reduction would simply not be necessary, even at 40 or 50mph you will still have incidents caused by driver inattention. An arbitrary reduction to the speed limit will penalise the majority when it's only the minority who are to blame here. I personalky hope the Highways Agency stick to their original decision to maintain the status quo.

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dorsetspeed says...
7:24pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Lets hope common sense prevails, and that the decision is based on logic, data, consistency, balance, not just the emotional aftermath of a terrible accident which could have happened anywhere and which there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever a lower limit would have prevented.
When the wrong solutions are introduced for the wrong reasons, more people die overall than when the right solutions are introduced for the right reasons. There are plenty of roads around here with single track lanes, T junctions, blind bends, mud and tractors, etc. and 60 limits, the A31 is like a runway by comparison.
Cllr Michael Thierry knows nothing about the complicated issues of road safety and really should not be demanding for things when he does not understand all of the factors. If a plane crashed in Dorset, would he be advising on what should be done?

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