A South Norwood woman is on a mission to make using a "dangerous junction" safer for pedestrians and drivers alike.
Katy Bowyer, of Lincoln Road, drives through the junction at Sunny Bank and Penge Road on a daily basis, and said something must be done to allow people to cross the road safely, or she fears someone may soon be seriously injured.So...isn't there a crossing?
Why, yes. There is:
So what's the problem?
"It's a dangerous junction for both pedestrians and car users and I hate using it but I don't really have another option," she said.
"I watch parents with children trying to cross, teenagers 'wired in' to their phones, the elderly and those in mobility scooters.
"They all have that 'OMG' look about them when they go to cross."Apart from the aforesaid teenagers, who probably never even look up....
She said the zebra crossing that currently sits along Penge Road doesn't five (sic) those crossing Sunny Bank a proper option.Why not?
"If you drive from Portland Road up through South Norwood, you are not able to turn right at the main Norwood High Street into Penge Road, you have to turn at the junction before, Manor Road, which then becomes Sunny Bank.
"So the majority of traffic coming from Sunny Bank want to turn right at this junction. It's very difficult to get out, so cars and HGVs don't stop to allow pedestrians to cross.
"Drivers are too busy trying to go right across a main road to look out for pedestrians."You've got plenty of time after straightening up from the turn to be able to stop at the crossing! If you're driving sensibly.
And if you're not, another crossing won't make a difference.
However a spokesman for Croydon Council said it wasn't as simple as putting in a new zebra crossing.
"The council has a limited budget for new pedestrian crossings, and priority goes to the locations across the borough that need it most each year," he said.
"Highways officers have no particular safety issues about these junctions, but if a resident wishes to request a crossing, they should contact the council direct and it will go onto a waiting list for consideration.”Translation: "Stop wasting our time, woman! There's already a perfectly good crossing there..."
4 comments:
I've noticed a steep decline in standards of driving recently: not indicating, or indicating too late for the turn; overtaking on the inside lane; increased tail-gating; cutting into a line of traffic to swerve into a slip road; a general lack of consideration for other road users; not stopping at zebra crossings ; refusing to move to the inside lane when holding up tens of following cars; etc.
It seems there are now many UK road users who (presumably) passed their driving tests under different jurisdictions, where standards were very low. Perhaps when/if/after we're free of EU influence it'll be possible to test non-UK license-holders to our much higher standards?
Perhaps when/if/after we're free of EU influence it'll be possible to test non-UK license-holders to our much higher standards?
Take it from someone who has taken his car test in both the yUK and Germany, the yUK test standard has always been lower than that of all 'Northern' European countries (probably the Eastern ones too). It wouldn't even surprise me if the EU refused to recognise newly issued UK Licenses after Brexsshite. At the moment a Brit 18 year old can pass his test in southern England in the morning and lawfully be attempting to drive down the autobahn that afternoon (as far as I know most EU driving tests have compulsory hours of motorway tuition-along with compulsory hours of 'Cross country' and nightime driving- do we have those here yet? That said, you are right about the falling standard of driving in general here- I see it every time I venture out of Norfolk into England on the road (the standard in Norfolk is sooo low anyways it couldn't get any worse).
Yes JK/BD, it might work both ways with the EU. But I also meant drivers from outside of the EU, whose standards are perhaps much lower - our Euro-masters prevent us from re-testing them as well.
"I've noticed a steep decline in standards of driving recently..."
Oh, me too! In the last ten years, it's got very bad. I've seen drivers do things that have left me open mouthed.
"At the moment a Brit 18 year old can pass his test in southern England in the morning and lawfully be attempting to drive down the autobahn that afternoon..."
Wasn't there once a loophole that you could pass your test in a milk float and then go out and buy a Ferrari? Or was that an urban myth?
"...our Euro-masters prevent us from re-testing them as well."
Sadly, I can't see the supine EU-loving 'Tories' standing up to this even after Brexit.
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