ruddy drivers!!
 

:mad:Was on my way to school this morning, with my little lad...we pressed the pelican crossing button....the light was red, the green man was on and me and my son was ready to put our foot on the road when......some, or should a say a few D******DS, went speeding past!!:mad:, its lucky my son had hold of my hand, otherwise.....*BANG*!!!

well.....i hope they could lip read or understand sign language:rolleyes:

what got me more mad is that there was about 3 cars that just went through the red light!!...I mean WTF!!:swear8:
just so they could get to work that few seconds earlier:mad:
do these people not realise that these crossing are there for a reason!! and what the red light is for???
me and my son could have been led on a slab now, if i hadnt been so quick on seeing them!

honestly the mentality of some people!!!
:bangh8:

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

That is terrible, as you say it could have been a lot worse but even so I bet you are still shaken!!!

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

very lucky,which pelican crossing was it,as some of them have camera,s on the top and are activated when the red light comes on for them to stop, glad you are both ok,

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

Did you get the reg numbers? If you did then report them to traffic plod.

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

wasnt looking at the reg numbers, was to wound up!!!

its the crossing nr rhyddings school, its mayhem there in the morning and at 3.30!!!

I think they should have spikes in the road so the pillocks cant go anywhere if it is on red;)

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

was this in bburn road next to health centre by any chance?

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

no yolanda....in ossy;)

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

ooo what a good idea, spikes coming up out of the ground either side of the crossing whilst the green man is up and then they go back into the ground when the man is back on red!!!!!!

And before anyone says anything I know it's not possible as you can guarantee someone would stand on them!!!

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

No but seeing as we can take pictures of red line jumpers an automatic 'stinger' device would be fun!

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

Was it a big white van?

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

glad yer both ok panther, same happened to me in the summer, was not with a child though, cashy retribution was to kick the car side,but ya cant do that with a kid present, technology is not beyond em though to install cameras at pelicans, followed by automatic fine n 3 points.:(

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

BRING BACK THE LOLLIPOP LADY/GENT they always got the traffic to stop and if you didn't they would take your reg and pass it on. That crossing on Union Rd has always been one where drivers take a gamble (and sometimes the school children and I MEAN THE ONES THAT SHOULD KNOW BETTER 13+).

You could let the police know about this problems and if they have a patrol in area they could then moniter the situation.....

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

they would probably run them over ber999t

Re: ruddy drivers!!
 

i think thts an excellent idea

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.