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PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 17:27 
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Tootling along the A595 for the first time in a little while on the way to Buttermere today I was disgusted to see the butchering they have done to the road around Moota.

I can just about get on board with the right turn lanes and the traffic islands but which absurd individual decided to put double solid white lines extending half way along the straight on the Carlisle side of Moota? This stretch of road is perfectly straight and there is no junction for the DWL to be protecting. It is a regular Talivan ambush point, one assumes they will set up there deliberately to nab people infringing the DWL to overtake on what is a perfectly straight bit of road! It's doubly absurd given that as you head towards Cockermouth up the hill it is still legal to overtake for a short stretch before the crest!

Grrrrrrrrr.


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 01:41 
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Google 'Moota' 'crash' then see who is ridiculous.


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:59 
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But one head-on crash, however serious, is no justification for putting DWLs in locations where there is ample visibility for overtaking.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 11:41 
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GreenShed wrote:
Google 'Moota' 'crash' then see who is ridiculous.


Well i took your advice and Googled 'Moota' 'crash' and the very first hit was Cumbria coach crash cyclists were brothers.

Surely by painting DWLs they will increase the chances of such an accident occurring as coachs will be unable to pull out and give cyclists ample room.

...yup, you are right - i can see who is ridiculous!

mb


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 19:45 
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GreenShed wrote:
Google 'Moota' 'crash' then see who is ridiculous.

Done!

1 of 2 (fatals): the 2 cyclists (mentioned by boomer), who were travelling in the same direction as the coach that hit them (case to be heard in June). Hard to see how DWLs help there.

2 of 2 (fatals): the 4/5 people that died because one of the drivers were more than 3x the alcohol limit.
So is the SCP response to drink driving really to simply paint lines on the road and enforce them?

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 22:50 
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Oh yessss. I know it well. Absolutely pointless (other than generating a goodly supply traffic offences to monitor while they chomp their donuts)! I mean, what is it about these people that makes them continually miss the point? First it was the obsession with speed. Now that it's been proved that it was never really a major problem, they're looking for another "wrong tree" to bark up! It really is completely spiteful.

There's absolute sense in putting double white lines near the crest on the Cockermouth side of the Moota garden centre. Nobody in their right mind would overtake there with the crest coming up. As if that wasn't enough, the junction to the road for Aspatria is close to it AND the entrance to a Quarry where very heavily-laden (and therefore slow-moving) trucks come in and out. But then, educating drivers not to overtake next to a junction or on the brow of a hill doesn't seem to be a priority, so ok, they put the islands in there. Fair enough.

The bright white lights down the centre of the road don't help either. It now makes it difficult to see approaching headlights in the distance and distinguish between those and the static white lights. The car headlights just get lost in the general clutter of light pollution. Good old-fashioned orange ones wth arrows on them would have been better. On the Carlisle side of Moota, however, there are no side roads from which traffic can emerge. In fact, heading towards Carlisle, they could have made it a broken white line on that side of the road. I think they completely forget that the few straight bits that we have round here, work as an important "safety valve" where cars can overtake slower traffic - which saves them doing it at rather less sensible places. Anyone wishing to do that now, needs to start the manouevre MUCH closer to the bend - OR break the law. Inspired eh?! Of course, what they WANT you to do is never to overtake anything at all. Just wait until there's a fatal at the Carlisle end of that straight so that they can use it to justify running the continuous white lines all the way to Bothel!


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 20:34 
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GreenShed wrote:
Google 'Moota' 'crash' then see who is ridiculous.



I'm well aware that there have been a few accidents around the garden centre, what I feel is ridiculous is the double White lines that extend half the distance along the straight between the garden centre and the next corner as you head towards Carlisle, a perfectly straight stretch of road with excellent visibility where overtaking is perfectly justified.


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PostPosted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 01:52 
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What then happens is that motorists ignore what they perceive to be pointless and ridiculous. All bad signage (etc) does is encourage disrespect for rules and regulations.
The delicate trust held between the public and the Police must always seem fair and reasonable, and preserved carefully. When it breaks down all that results is distrust, of the system, a devaluation & wide disregard to all the rules and regs, and a continuation of the large divide between the in Police and the Public. That is very bad for road safety.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 01:48 
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I've lived in the area for the last 15 years. I've heard of at least 6 fatal RTCs in that time and dozens of serious RTCs. I can understand why the county highways are trying to make the road safer, however, I fear they're trying to crack a walnut with a sledgehammer.


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 22:46 
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SafeSpeedv2 wrote:
What then happens is that motorists ignore what they perceive to be pointless and ridiculous...


If they're caught, they get fined... :wink: Can't imagine where the money goes.... :roll:


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 22:50 
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The Highway Man wrote:
I've lived in the area for the last 15 years. I've heard of at least 6 fatal RTCs in that time and dozens of serious RTCs. I can understand why the county highways are trying to make the road safer, however, I fear they're trying to crack a walnut with a sledgehammer.

Me too. I travel that stretch on average, once a week. There are some clearly dangerous bits (the blind summit by the quarry, the turning to Plumbland etc). It would be interesting to know, however, whether any of these KSIs have actually happened on the (newly double-white-lined) section at the Northern end of that striaght though.


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 08:57 
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Cumbrian Safety Cameras state these are : Cumbria Safety Cameras Site List - and for the A595 ...:
A595 Wigton Road, Carlisle W/B, A595 Wigton Road, Carlisle E/B
A595 West Woodside/Curthwaite Junc. N/E, A595 West Woodside/Curthwaite Junc.S/W
A595 Greenhill Hotel, Red Dial W/B, A595 Greenhill Hotel, red Dial E/B
A595 Loop Road (Highlands) Whitehaven N/B, A595 Loop Road (Highlands) Whitehaven S/B
A595 Bigrigg Village N/B, A595 Bigrigg Village S/B
A595 Wreaks End, Broughton N/E, A595 Wreaks End, Broughton S/W
A595 Bigrigg Village S/B
A595 Askam In Furness Northbound, A595 Bleabeck Brickworks Southbound
A595 Bleabeck Brickworks Northbound
A595 Carelton Junction Northbound traffic
A595 Harecroft hall gosforth Southbound traffic
A595 Muncaster Bridge Southbound traffic
A595 Swallow Hurst Hall Southbound Traffic
A595 Gale Brow, Winscales Moor - Northbound
A595 Newby cross house Newby cross Westbound, A595 Newby cross house Newby cross Eastbound

A 595 Moota Hotel & Garden Hotel South, A 595 Moota Hotel & Garden Hotel North
A 595 Old Moota Inn/Clintz Quarry South

A595 Threapland Junction Nr Moota Hotel & Garden Centre
A595 Distington Bypass Southbound, A595 Distington Bypass Northbound

According to the BBC Road Accident Crash Map data :
BBC Craash Map Data wrote:
The entire A595 has seen the following accidents :
Nearby Roads off the A595:
14:10, Saturday, 3 May 2008 - Fatalities: 1 - Pedestrian: man, aged 87 - Vehicles involved: 1 - 1 Car
3:15, Saturday, 12 July 2008 - Fatalities: 1 - Pedestrian: woman, aged 35 - Vehicles involved: 1 - 1 Car
17:24, Wednesday, 1 October 2008 - Fatalities: 2 - Driver/Rider: man, aged 26 - Driver/Rider: man, aged 36 - Vehicles involved: 2 - 2 Car
On the A595 (Whitehaven - Moota) :
20:06, Saturday, 12 April 2008 - Fatalities: 5 - Driver/Rider: man, aged 23 & : woman, aged 22 - Passenger: woman, aged 53, aged 54, aged 22 - Vehicles involved: 3 - 3 Car Read more about this incident

They say cameras help to prevent accidents (we don't see any evidence to support that statement.
There are a lot of location sites for cameras alone even if we only look at the A595 !

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