Speed reduction on A270 Lewes Road hailed a success (From The Argus)

Speed reduction on A270 Lewes Road hailed a success

10:35am Monday 24th September 2012 in News By Neil Vowles

The introduction of a lower speed limit along a busy road has been hailed as a major success following a dramatic reduction in the number of crashes.

There has only been one accident on the A270 Lewes Road since Brighton and Hove City Council decided to reduce the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph earlier this year.

Sussex Safer Roads Partnership said there had only been one collision resulting in a slight injury since the speed limit on the A270 Lewes Road between Natal Road to Moulsecoomb Way changed from 40mph to 30mph on January 18.

In 2011 there were nine collisions on the same stretch of road with three resulting in serious injuries or death.

The speed reduction was introduced earlier this year as part of a city-wide pilot scheme which saw 20 mph zones introduced on 15 streets around local schools and 40mph zones reduced on Lewes Road, Brownleaf Road and Old Shoreham Road.

The camera was hooded on December 15 in preparation for the change of speed limit and was kept out-of-operation throughoutthe start of the year to allow motorists to adjust to the change.

New figures also show that no speeding tickets had been issued since the camera was brought back into service on June 14.

In 2010, 53 fines were issued and ten speeding awareness courses attended by motorists caught speeding by the camera.

Neil Hopkins, spokesman for Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, said: “Due to the significant drop in collisions and casualties at this site, we are conducting less active enforcement at present.

“This reiterates our message that casualty reduction is our primary aim, not penalising the motorist.

“Motorists should be aware that all of our sites are actively enforced from on a regular basis, and there is no easy way of knowing when there is a live camera in the housing at any one moment.

“The site has not had an active camera installed as the collision record since January is very good but we will certainly be enforcing in the future.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said: “The combined re-introduction of the speed camera and 30 mph limit has made a marked improvement to road safety on the Lewes Road.

“The council is currently proposing the phased introduction of a 20mph limit for residential and shopping streets in the city which we hope will encourage more cycling and walking, bringing road safety benefits, as well as reducing congestion and improving air quality.

“Most major roads will remain at 30mph to ensure that limits are realistic without the need for extensive traffic calming.”