Dangerously speeding cars need to be stopped using quiet Brighton roads as an “unofficial race track” before someone is killed, residents say.
Tina Knight, who lives in Manton Road, Bevendean, filmed this video of a noisy speeding car with a camera she installed to get proof of dangerous driving.
Ward councillor Dan Yates brought her request for traffic calming measures to committee in 2020 – but it was turned down because there hadn’t been any accidents there for three years.
Miss Knight said: “I’ve lived in Manton Road for 30 years, it’s got progressively worse. There’s going to be a bad accident one day.
“Many people walk down the steps at the end of the road and use Manton as a short cut onto the Avenue – families with children going to and from school.
“It’s seriously so dangerous now. It’s used as two way traffic by many vehicles and mopeds.
“We had a camera installed for this reason, we needed solid proof, and last night my daughter and I just stared open mouth at each other when we heard the wheel spin and roar from our lounge.
“It’s horrendous and something needs doing now.”
Councillor Daniel Yates said: “Residents are sick of their roads being used as unofficial race tracks and don’t want to have to wait until someone is seriously injured before these dangerous driving behaviours are addressed.”
Cllr Yates asked for a review of the narrow, single-track one way road’s safety in September 2020 at Brighton and Hove City Council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee.
The road is also difficult for people with mobility problems as a footway on one side is regularly obstructed by pavement parking.
Cllr Yates added “Residents have asked for action to be taken by the council to ensure that all residents and users can share the space safely and without fear of speeding vehicles.”
In response, council officers said: “There have been no casualties reported in Manton Road in the last three years and therefore the road would not meet the criteria for a full safety review under this programme.”
The response explained large numbers of requests for traffic calming are received and that requests are prioritised according to casualties with the funding available.
I never understand officialdom’s stance that injury or death are needed before measures are taken. Surely it is a matter of anticipating these. After all, to use Hemingway’s phrase, it’s “a damn good rule” in life to achieve success by looking ahead rather than plouging a groove. Somebody will be killed, and there will be a chorus of “why was nothing done about this before?” As we see in America and all those gun slaughters.
a damn good rule in life is proportionality and taking all factors into account
It’s a question of resources. Of course it would be good to sort out all the problems everywhere but there’s never going to be enough money to do that so isn’t it better to target the places where people are getting hurt now and then look at the places that are maybe a problem if there is anything left. Should we spend the limited funding on places where there might be an accident or on the places where there are accidents?
Noisy? More like in 2nd gear doing about 30mph. There was no acceleration at all. Just a snowflake with a camera.