Campaign to curb rural speeding is stepped up (From Gazette & Herald)

Campaign to curb rural speeding is stepped up

THE Council for the Protection of Rural England(CPRE) is stepping up its campaign to have 30mph limits in all villages and for action to curb speeding in country lanes.

Many villages, says the conservation organisation, remain blighted by speeding traffic. "Government action to reduce speed limits in country lanes is crawling at a snail's pace," says Paul Hamblin, CPRE's head of transport policy.

He added: "We are particularly concerned that a Government bill on safety, being discussed in parliament now, is silent on the subject of tackling speeding traffic on rural roads. We are urging people to write to ministers and MPs to press for action."

John Farquhar, of Ampleforth, a leading member and former secretary of the CPRE in Ryedale, said: "Many elderly people and young mothers with prams feel threatened by the volume and speed of traffic in villages."

Excessive speed on moorland roads in the district was the cause of many sheep and lamb deaths, said Mr Farquhar, who added that it was an annual problem, particularly in the spring and summer.

The increasing number of 45-tonne trucks thundering through Ryedale villages was worrying residents, even though they may be only travelling at 25mph. "The perception is that they have a worse effect on our communities than a car, say travelling at 35mph."

Some improvements were being made in Ryedale villages by North Yorkshire County Council, said Mr Farquhar, especially with the laying of rumble strips and the introduction of 20mph speed limits near schools.

But one of the difficulties was that people who did not know the network of country lanes in Ryedale and failed to appreciate the severity of some of the sharp bends, found themselves in hazardous circumstances which, in some cases in the past three years, had led to serious accidents and loss of life.

The CPRE says speeding traffic has a significant impact on people's quality of life. "With traffic rising in rural areas, it is an issue which will not go away," said Mr Hamblin.

He added that the Government did not know how many villages have 30mph speed limits and has provided no deadline by which such limits should be "the norm".

"Last year, the number of people killed on rural roads actually increased, despite Government targets to reduce casualties," said Mr Hamblin. "In the last six years, 136 people have been killed in rail accidents, while 1,641 died on rural roads in 2001 alone, with speed being the single largest contributory factor."

He added that speeding traffic intimidated village residents, walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

Updated: 09:05 Wednesday, March 19, 2003