Malton pedestrians are worst in district (From Gazette & Herald)

Malton pedestrians are worst in district

Malton pedestrians are the worst in the district when it comes to obeying traffic lights.

That's the claim of a veteran driving instructor in the town who fears its only a matter of time before there is a serious accident.

The major blackspot is Malton's notorious Butcher Corner - for generations a traffic bottleneck - says Malcolm Pearson, where people dash out in front of traffic at the busy crossroads, impatient to wait for the pedestrian green light to show.

"I have spoken to driving instructors in other towns in Ryedale and elsewhere in North and East Yorkshire and there seems little doubt that Malton has the worst problem," said Mr Pearson.

His worries coincide with the start of the drawing up of a major transport strategy for Malton and Norton aimed at reducing the high volume of heavy traffic and long queues through the twin towns.

"The scariest places are Yorkersgate and Wheelgate," said Mr Pearson, who says he has seen several near misses - often with adults dashing with small children across the road.

"Some people don't look at all when crossing the junction; others do see the traffic there and still cross. The problem seems to be greater in Malton than in other towns. As a driving instructor, I am alarmed at the lack of care taken by pedestrians. Many themselves must be drivers but they still step out in front of traffic - everyone from young people to pensioners."

Saturdays, he says, pose the biggest nightmare. "While the traffic lights are green and vehicles are still moving, people fail to look both ways and cross when the pedestrian light is on red."

He cited a recent instance where he was waiting to turn into Yorkersgate with a learner driver, and a mother and her small daughter were waiting to cross to Castlegate.

"She saw a gap in the traffic, pushed her daughter to run ahead across the road as we were turning. The girl saw us and we stopped dead in the middle of the road. The mother also saw our car, grabbed her daughter by the collar of her coat and dragged her back. The little girl was in no danger from our car because we could see what was going on and we were ready for such a situtaion. The mother did apologise."

In another incident, said Mr Pearson, a man and a child, aged about three years old, were standing on the road between two cars. The lights turned green for traffic and the man suddenly stepped into the path of Mr Pearson and his learner driver's car with the child.

"We stopped, blew the horn and the man stopped in the road and shouted abuse at us. He gave no thought to the safety of the child. My inexperienced driver could have missed his footing and hit the accelerator pedal instead of the brake in his haste to stop."

One of the causes, believes Mr Pearson, is the sequence of the lights at the crossroads which he says means pedestrians have to wait while two sets of traffic lights turn green.

Like many traders and residents in Malton and Norton, Mr Pearson is convinced that the building of access roads at each end of the Malton bypass is a priority to get heavy trucks out of the town centres as they head to the industrial estates or towards Hull.

A catalogue of 60 suggested improvements put forward by the two towns is currently being studied by North Yorkshire County Council highway bosses as the first step towards alleviating the traffic chaos in Malton and Norton, but the recommendations are not expected to be published for some weeks.

Backing for Mr Pearson's worries has come from Malton's town mayor, Coun Ann Hopkinson, who told the Gazette & Herald: "People take their lives in their hands when they disregard the lights."

She added: "They are just not prepared to wait for the pedestrian lights to turn green."

Coun Hopkinson said: "I have seen the situation for myself - people with buggies dashing across the road when the lights are at red."

She believes that a zebra crossing would not be the answer because of the congestion and traffic back-up which would result. However, she said she hoped the town council would take the issue on board and write to North Yorkshire's chief constable, Della Canning, to seek her support and advice.

Cyril Shreeve, secretary of the Malton and Norton Road Safety Committee, said his organisation would welcome action which would educate the public on the dangers. He said: "The seconds people save by dashing across the road when the lights are still at red is infinitesimal compared with the great risk they are putting themselves - and often the children in pushchairs and prams - in."

But vital to the traffic and pedestrian conflict in the towns is the reduction of heavy vehicles passing through, said Mr Shreeve. "Ideally, I would like to see distribution depots set up which could be used by smaller delivery vehicles, linked with the transporting of goods by rail."

The building of interchanges at each end of the Malton bypass was essential to trying to resolve the traffic congestion, said Mr Shreeve.

Updated: 08:53 Wednesday, March 05, 2003