Safe Speed Forums

Was in Kendal yesterday - amazes me there's still traffic driving the "wrong" way along the main street.

Are the no entry signs not clear enough??

IMHO, meeting a vehicle driving the wrong way on a one way street is more hazardous than driving at 79 mph on the M6 in good conditions...

Can we expect CSCP to take action? Dont hold your breath...

Silly Summer Season mate!

We've got people back who last visited the town last summer, and "we used to be able to drive through here, officer, Why has it all changed?... Oh I see, very good idea... I'll remember for next year!"

"It'll have changed again by then, sir, just keep an eye on the signs. "

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Fixed ideas are like cramp, for instance in the foot, yet the best remedy is to step on them.

Ian

Very worrying.

I have never seen the point of those signs saying "Road Layout Changed",
as we should always drive for what is in front of us and not what was there last time, but obviously there are some people who need the help

In their defence, I have to say the signage is confusing and sometimes appears contradictory - you have to see ALL the signs to make sense of them, and if your view is obscured by a Stagecoach bus etc. this is not always possible.
If you wish to turn into Maude Street for instance, from Windermere Road, you turn left, travel all the way to the station, around the roundabout, and back to Maude Street, through numerous sets of lights and junctions!
OR you can simply turn into the Mews where the cinema used to be, straight back out and into Maude Street - but there are NO signs telling you of this latter course!
Better still is the small car park adjacent to what was Briggs!

It would'nt be so bad if they did'nt insist on changing everything once a month - I go in so infrequently now, that I have missed some of the intermediate tweaks! I also know that some people are being asked for directions and are deliberately telling motorists it is alright to drive down from the Town Hall to MacDonalds or Marks and Spencers!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Well we live on the outskirts of Kendal (though not for much longer now), and all I can say is that it is a fantastic demonstration of the level of wholesale balls up you can end up with if you give free rein to a council full of conflicting self-interests, and ensure that all the analysis is done by a company with a clear financial interest in ensuring that the scheme involves as much change as possible.

If anyone else ran a business on the same basis they'd be bankrupt in months!

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

sorry for late reply, but new to this site.....
Funnily enough we have a meeting coming up and one of the Road Traffic Cops from the area will be attending. Will bring subject up, and let you know his reply.

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belladonna
'Wisdom is knowing how little we know'
Socrates

Hi Belladonna,

Glad you could feature on this site.

I am Kendal trafpol, but I've already answered the question. Perhaps you'll get another angle from the one you have a chat with .

To put you in the picture, I've also recently trained as Family Liaison Officer. My shift sergeant is FLO coordinator for Cumbria Police, and he may be the contact you'll make. He is very keen to encourage a multi faceted approach to the family liaison role, and is very keen to build bridges between organisations.

I've read your introductory post on another thread, and I share the condolences expressed by others about the dreadful loss you have suffered.

Our division has been saddened this week by a tragic collision on A6 near Carlisle which has taken the lives of a pensioner, and four teenagers, one of whom is the 17 year old daughter of our Chief Inspector. I really cannot imagine what he is going through at the minute, and my thoughts go out to him and the families of the others whose lives have been so tragically cut short.

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Fixed ideas are like cramp, for instance in the foot, yet the best remedy is to step on them.

Ian

I saw the pictures on TV of the accident site. My first thoughts were how could it have happened.
It's very easy to jump to conclusions and think "Ah yes, 4 teenagers in a car....." but if it were our teenagers, we would like to think they ARE well behaved, and not liable to flashes of youthful exuberance behind the wheel.
I had a discussion about this earlier in the week, as to whether young drivers would benefit from an opportunity to "get it out of their system".

In Kendal at nights, it's all too easy to see the young drivers who ARE a potential problem on the road. I am sure most will mature in their driving, but for some experience will be hard won.
Maybe their parents should spend more time in the car with them?

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

I think we could do a lot more to explain the nature of their road safety responsibilities in schools. Their careless and reckless actions are mainly founded on a lack of understanding of the risks.

Experience improves our risk assessments, and that's one of the main factors that makes mature drivers safer. There's no reason we shouldn't give pre-drivers a leg up on the risk assessment ladder.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Thanks Ian for coming back to me. And thanks for your thoughts over my loss.
Yes, I heard about the RTC near Carlisle. Like you say the families will be going through a dreadful time, and many months ahead of them with much grief, confusion, and general trauma. Our thoughts from RoadPeace NW go out to all of them.
Our NW branch is still very young, and we appear to have 'branched out' from the traditional ways/thoughts that our other branches and Head Office seem to follow. It may be because our situations were different form theirs, or it may be the areas involved, we are not sure yet. Time will tell. What we are very keen to do is work with all the services, schools, councils, companies, etc, to help them understand what these 'accidents' entail. How many people are actually involved, and the effect it has on EVERYONE. Maybe awareness and understanding is a way forward for people to understand the trauma this causes.
I DO NOT want our group to be about 'doom and gloom'. My loss has happened, the reasons are in the past, and dwelling there is not going to help anyone in the future.
I appreciate your job. I became very good friends with my FLO and his job was hard and at times very distressing. So much so that he has been unable to continue with the force, and has retired due to stress.
We ask for everyones imput, and welcome it. Even though we are based in Preston, Lancashire, it was decided that we would 'tip' over the border into Cumbria, and I spend alot of my time in and around the Kirkby Lonsdale area, where the bikers meet. We would very much like to hold a meeting around that area.
I would also like to suggest that as you do not have a Roadpeace branch in your area, that maybe we could come to your area and have a meeting, or talk with yourselve and your collegues? I do not think it is your shift sergeant that we have any contact with, but would very much like it to be. This would give us a contact within your area.
All help and contact spreads the word. Please keep in touch.

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belladonna
'Wisdom is knowing how little we know'
Socrates

Excellent article in the Gazette, explaining the route motorists are expected to take to avoid turning from Windermere Road, into Maude Street and Stricklandgate.
Apparently you turn left, then right past the bus station, bear left towards the old Provincial Insurance HQ, then right along the river on New Road, before turning right, and back past the bus station, then left back to where you first started, but at which point you can turn left into Stricklandgate, or continue on into Maude Street. During this time you will pass through two sets of traffic lights and one crossing lights - TWICE! What happened to the Government's fuel conservation measures???
They missed my tip about turning into Briggs car park, turning around and straight back out, or using the mews next to QwikFit to do the same thing!!

Apparently the police have already ticketed 8 drivers with £30 fixed penalty tickets for ignoring the signs. Nick Raymond CCC Area Traffic Engineer says people ignoring the signs are endangering cyclists and pedestrians and causing tailbacks on Windermere Road.
However, buses with slower acceleration, larger vehicles and a timetable to keep to, who are exempt from following the signs are apparently not endangering either of the above parties despite making the same manouevre.
Nick Raymond is the wriggly rat who said it was'nt worth spending £48,000 on a PELICAN crossing at Goodly Dale in Windermere, because despite all the accidents and near misses there, nobody had been killed, or seriously injured enough! Does anyone know anybody with suicidal tendencies who might be prepared to end it all on the crossing, and earn us a new crossing from Nick Raymond?
On second thoughts, one might well be not enough!
Does anybody know a good lible lawyer? These petty officials really get on my wick!!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!