Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

This could help, from 'my source :D:-

Well...

The idiot shouldn't have been driving through a red light anyway!

There are a number of things that you can do to make crossings safer.
She could put in a request with traffic services to have a School
Crossing Patrol (Lollipop lady/man) put at the crossing during AM/PM
school finishing hours. The authority would then have to do some
analysis of accidents in the area and see if they can justify a School
Crossing Patrol. This would be best done through the local councillor
(more swing and it's a good political 'quick win' for the councillor).
The councillor might also be able to get the police there for one or two
days to observe traffic offences and speeds (but this isn't guaranteed
with resources etc).

The Authority has probably already conducted some form of traffic
engineering safety review as a part of the School Travel Plan programme.
Each school in England is required to produce a travel plan (defined as
an identified set of proposals to reduce travel to school by car and
increase healthy modes of travel like cycling and walking) by 2009. The
Authority will have been given funding to work with schools and produce
travel plans. As part of this the Authority will usually have conducted
some form of assessment in the immediate vicinity of the school but this
will differ by Authority (based on funding, resources etc) - AND this
element is discretionary. If this is the case, the Authority might
already have some proposals to improve safety around the school and/or
might be aware that an issue exists at the crossing.

It is part of the Authorities requirement under the Best Value
Performance Indicator system (government's system for assessing
Authority performance) to make efforts to reduce Killed and Seriously
Injured Road Incidents (KSIs), child KSIs and overall numbers of road
incidents. The Authority therefore should respond pro-actively to
complaints like this to ensure they meet their targets for 2008/2009 by
minimising the risk of further incidents, especially incidents involving
under-16's (remember meeting these performance targets is linked to
their funding allocations for future years).

It is true that 'red light cameras' can be linked to signals so that any
infringement of the red light will trigger the camera and a subsequent
fixed penalty notice can be issued. However, they usually only instate
these cameras based on certain criteria, either where a high number of
incidents at a junction have resulted from people travelling through red
lights or where a high number of red light infringements are recorded.
In addition, there will usually be some analysis of speeds at each site
conducted and usually only put them in when the speed limit is above
40mph. The only requirement on the Authority is that the speed
limit/traffic lights are visible - the camera itself does not have to be
visible or signed (they only colour them yellow to reduce the numbers of
complaints - all cameras could be hidden if they wanted). I have
attached the official government guidance on the placement on traffic
enforcement cameras (if you're that keen!).

She could push for the introduction of a 20mph zone (not speed limit but
a 20mph ZONE). By law a 20mph ZONE (defined as a enclosed network of
streets with 20mph signing at exit/entry points) must have traffic
calming features a minimum of every 50m (speed humps, speed cushions,
widened footway etc) and therefore be a self-enforcing speed limit.
This would reduce the incidents of speeding because of the potential
damage to the vehicle and discomfort to the driver. However, because
the Authority will be aware of their obligations to provide traffic
calming (and associated cost) this might prove difficult to force
through. She could sell it off the back of the vicinity to the school
and request the accident data (that the Authority WILL have) for the
area through the Freedom of Information Act to strengthen her case. I
have enclosed the guidance on 20mph zones issued by the DfT.

As for introducing spikes... I like the idea! They use them in
Manchester to control traffic on Cross Street between 11am - 7pm and
they work. However, I think they might be considered both too radical
and too expensive for a pedestrian crossing. Technically, there isn't
anything to stop cars travelling through normal red lights at junctions,
except common sense, the risk of having an incident and the risk of
being caught. So the chances of getting one introduced on a (what I
presume is) a residential street are fairly minimal.

If she took a photo of the crossing I could tell you specifically what
could be done at that crossing to improve it? But that's up to you.