A petition has been launched and Ramsgate councillors are calling for traffic calming measures following the tragic death of a cyclist in Dumpton Park Drive last month.
Cllr Pat Moore (Labour) lives in the road where the crash resulted in the death of 54-year-old Jacqueline McFarling.
Cllr Moore said: “I have tried for many months to get traffic calming measures, but have been told that they are not justified by the number of accidents.
“Some years ago a man was knocked off his bike and killed. The driver was never found. In all, I believe there have been three accidents at this junction in the last three months.”
The district councillor, who represents Sir Moses Montefiore ward, added: “Cars come from Broadstairs at a rate of knots through to the other end of Dumpton Park Drive. This is a rat-run and with a school and a care home in the vicinity.
“The county council needs to take urgent action. I will continue to press on this.”
Cllr Moore’s call for traffic calming measures is being backed by Ramsgate Town Councillor Pat Makinson, who has launched the petition asking Kent County Council: “ to improve the safety of Dumpton Park Drive and this junction in particular, including measures to reduce the speed of vehicles travelling along the road.”
The councillors have been going door to door with the petition and there is also the option to sign online.
A similar campaign is running in Cliftonville where a plea is being made following three serious incidents within a three mile stretch in just one week last month which resulted in three people taken to hospital with two flown by air ambulance including a child.
Jon Edgley Bond, who lives in Approach Road with wife Fliss and their two boys, has launched the petition in a bid to make the area safer.
Jon, who is a member of Park Approach Tenants & Residents Association (PATRA) which has previously campaigned for road safety measures, said: “There’s a definite desire to see speed reduced on our roads.
“The petition for Cliftonville is one step of many we’re taking to raise awareness and convince the council to implement effective ways to reduce speed and increase safety in the area.
“We’d encourage other parts of Thanet to create their own petitions to show the council the clear need for drivers to slow down and drive safely in our towns and villages.”
Educate these drivers, make the penalty severe for the crime they commit.
No ones life is worth them being a seconds earlier.
Life bans from driving and time in prison.
No excuse for speeding or not paying attention when at the wheel of a car!
Drivers see pedestrians and cyclists as a nuisance, the real nuisances are those drivers!!
I live. in a road off Elms Avenue ,there is a pedestrian crossing outside The grammar school that I have nearly been killed on by cars that don’t stop , it is an accident waiting to happen in my opinion , we need a traffic light crossing before someone gets killed , trouble is there are cars parked from number4 up to Ethelbert. road and you can’t see cars. coming down the hill until you are half way across the crossing 😚
Exactly what type of traffic calming? Post lock down traffic is mad everywhere. Pure and simple tact to take, would be banning the mindless idiots who cause accidents. Unless the traffic calming measures are policed, they’re not worth spending tax payers money. Maybe a speed camera or 2? At least they will pay for their own upkeep. Too many racers fly around during the small hours. They need stopping and sent to the nearest race track.
Traffic calming humps and bumps are great for the local garages to get extra work by replacing the spring’s in vehicles but they don’t make the roads any safer. Speed cameras that actually work are much more affected as well as police officers being seen. It’s been proven that fast drivers are the worst lovers they like to get thing’s over with quick. Judging by the standard of driving in Thanet there must be a lot of useless lovers.
Speed cameras and 20mph speed limits along dangerous areas.
Well it would be good if the Councillors did go door to door in the Dumpton area as it would be the first time we have seen them since the local elections.
I use this junction quite a lot on my bike, and one problem is not being able to see up the road due to parked cars! I have been standing at the junction with Montefiore Road, trying to see if its clear to go, but having to push out into the road to see pass parked cars! On one occasion recently what I thought was a spot in the distance, turned out to be a car that must have being doing over 70mph, which nearly got me, as I pushed off!
Why do KCC need to have several deaths before they will take action? Double Yellow lines at the junction would be a help, so would a 20mph speed limit, and speed cameras, they wouldn’t cost a lot!
Where there is a school etc there should be traffic lights as this will solve several problems. Firstly it will train (I hope) children as well as adults to cross at the right time i.e when the green man/person is showing and will also stop cars parking on the junction as I know most of these blind spots are where the school or doctors are situated. I live in Newington Ramsgate and by a school, Tesco is past the school and I am a wheelchair user and my carer has to take me into the road a lot of the time due to inconsiderate car drivers (they park on the pavement) and the cars and other traffic (electric scooters) speed down the road to beat any pedestrian trying to cross at the dropped kerb this is opposite a school so yes calming measures are a good thing but then again so are traffic wardens giving tickets to the inconsiderate parkers.
Sadly no one is listening. I sent an email to my local councillor two weeks ago, and haven’t even had the courtesy of an automated reply!!
The problem is that for both national and local government, any action that is seen to restrict motorists is perceived as a vote loser, so won’t happen unless there are dire circumstances.
Look at the vast outpouring of faux outrage on these pages when increases in parking charges are announced, or intentions to turn an area into a pedestrian precinct.
It’s bloomin’ obvious that the existing laws, regulations and codes are routinely ignored by many, many motorists.
And that’s why, tragically, we still have 4 people a day die on our roads, and 50 more suffer serious injuries. None of it needs to happen.
KCC say that these type of measures do not work, it is down to the drivers of the vehicles obeying the laws. People should not park within 10 meters of a junction, on the brow of a hill, on a zebra crossing. etc but they are and no enforcement takes place by the police or local councils.
People in Approach Road need to park their vehicles sensibly then incidents would be fewer. If drivers cannot see what is approaching because morons park on the corners then there will be crashes. But it doesn’t matter what speed limit you put in when drink drivers are crashing about such as the last crash in Approach Road. The police need to catch them, they won’t take notice of a sign restricting speed when they are pissed.