Bradford Telegraph and Argus
hereBradford Telegraph and Argus - Hannah Baker wrote:
Lives at risk warning' over rogue signs at Wyke
By Hannah Baker 8:30am Thursday 19th May 2011
Hundreds of perplexed motorists have been flashed by a speed camera after “irresponsible and stupid” practical jokers erected a rogue 40mph speed limit sign in a 30mph zone.
Highway chiefs have condemned as “crassly irresponsible” the pranksters who put up the sign close to a speed camera on Woodside Road, in Wyke, Bradford.
A nearby resident said the camera had flashed like a “strobe disco light” after motorists unwittingly sped up before passing it.
Bradford Council yesterday removed the sign, which it believes was installed by a member of the public several days ago near the junction with Carr House Lane.
Dave Clarke, a HGV driver, of Carr House Mount, said: “People were coming at 30mph but this sign brought them back up to 40mph so people were picking their speed up and setting the flash off.
“Some evenings it’s been like a strobe disco light. There have obviously been a lot of people who have been caught by it.
“Whoever has placed the sign there, it’s a stupid thing to do. It costs time and effort for all those involved in the fines process."
Darren Badrock, Bradford Council’s principal engineer for Bradford South, said: “The 40mph sign was not put up by the Council and appears to have been placed there by a member of the public. We have now removed it.
“Whoever put it up may think it was just a practical joke but it is actually crassly irresponsible.
“We lowered the limit to 30mph on Woodside Road because there had been 157 casualties on the A641 over three years. Encouraging people to drive faster than the speed limit may put lives at risk."
“Anyone who receives a fixed penalty notice related to the camera monitoring traffic travelling north on Woodside Road, between High Fernley Road and Carr House Lane, who believes the unauthorised sign was a factor should contact the partnership.”
A West Yorkshire Police Spokesman said: “Concern was raised about the road sign marked 40mph in Wyke, which was incorrect.
“However, when officers attended to have a look, it had been removed.”
The reporting is confusing, either the Police/Council removed the sign or they didn't ?
No one knows who placed up the sign it could have been anyone who had access to official signs - further analysis of the sign can tell us it if is a standard legal sign or not. Have signs from elsewhere been stolen ? Is this a way to make all speed camera NIPs illegal without destroying the speed camera equipment? Certainly an improper sign will make that area 'illegal'. Motorists cannot be expected to knwo all the finer points of when a sign is illegal - as the Southampton Councillor said (in essence) it is involved, not rocket science though but not what the average motorists will be able to recognise.