Young locals blamed for town speeding

Councillors have moved closer to introducing a 20mph speed limit in parts of Lerwick to help improve road safety and combat speeding drivers.

Elected members have opted to consult on whether the reduced limit should rolled out from the North Ness roundabout to the top of Church Road.

The agreement came after one member described the problem of speeding drivers as a “festering sore”.

Jonathan Wills said he had witnessed young drivers using their cars as “a form of mating display”.

He said visitors, as well as locals, were at risk from motorists reaching speeds of up to 50mph or beyond – an estimation roads engineer Colin Gair said was not unreasonable.

Dr Wills told fellow members: “It is a notorious fact there is excessive speeding and extremely bad driving daily in this town centre.”

He blamed young, local men for being the perpatrators behind the behaviour.

The cost of introducing the scheme is estimated to be between £100,000 and £150,000.

COMMENTS(14)

Add Your Comment
  • Michael Grant

    • March 12th, 2014 15:59

    So Jonathan please explain why the local police force are yet to catch anyone doing 50-60mph in said area as it seems to you that this is a nightly occurence, also its a wonder nobody has been run over trying to cross the road at the bottom of church road at the crossing that is never working yet you want 100-150 thousand to get a 20mph zone in the town,fix the bloody crossings first i say.

    REPLY
  • John Tulloch

    • March 12th, 2014 21:17

    If people are failing to recognise the 30mph speed limit, why will they recognise a 20mph one?

    REPLY
    • Robert Duncan

      • March 12th, 2014 23:05

      20mph zones require things like speed bumps.

      REPLY
      • Fiona Cope

        • March 13th, 2014 12:50

        Heaven forbid.

      • john n oakes

        • March 13th, 2014 16:07

        Sadly you should drive around Manchester. Speed bumps invite lazy road repairs to an extent of causing massive ruts. Bit surprise your council never approached the idea of speed reduction as part of the EU directive for pollution reduction policy. Many a night we hear the sound of police helicopters and sirens trying to catch Jimmy Speedfoot or Larry Leadfoot. Looks nice on paper but never works when the council receive a bill for vehicle damage from poorly design humps and road repairs.

  • John Tulloch

    • March 13th, 2014 8:35

    We need to beware of ‘speed control freakery’ of the kind Councillor Wills is exhibiting.

    If we’re going to have 20mph to the Nort Ness why not have it to Alex Morrison’s or ‘Pete’s’, or to the Co-op? And what about…?

    A 20mph speed limit would be entirely reasonable and sensible from, say, the Thuley to the other side of the Church Road crossing and below the Fort from the foot of Charlotte Street to Harbour Street and I doubt whether many would object, even if it were policed by speed bumps or, even, cameras – because it would be ‘sensible’.

    REPLY
  • Johan Adamson

    • March 13th, 2014 9:20

    Im not sure what has changed here. Boys have always driven along the street in their cars. Surely its not them but the nanny state that has changed?

    REPLY
  • Dave Cooper

    • March 13th, 2014 11:08

    £100-£150k plus ongoing maintenance for a 20mph zone. That’s talking around £6 per head of Shetland population just for starters.
    Would a speed gun be cheaper & just as affective. John Tulloch is right to ask if anyone would take notice. In my experience in areas with speed humps even busses don’t stick to 20mph. Because a greater proportion of drivers will be over the limit you need a speed gun anyway. Speed bumps are also a bit sink estate.

    On a more positive note. Lamp post mounted signs that flash when the limit is being breached have proved to be relatively cheap & effective elsewhere.

    REPLY
  • Iantinkler

    • March 13th, 2014 12:05

    £100,000 and £150,000 for 20MPH limit! How about enforcing the 30MPH limit first. I note the usual suspects “striving to waste”. Good one Jonathon.

    REPLY
  • Matthew Simpson

    • March 13th, 2014 12:25

    I’ve never heard of anyone being hurt along this stretch of road by speeding vehicles, so why does this warrant a £100k-£150k investment? Just send the police down there with a speed gun now and again.

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  • Stewart Mac

    • March 13th, 2014 16:19

    There used to be a time, way back when, that pedestrians (particularly children) were taught things like the “Green Cross Code” and general road safety education both in school and elsewhere now it seems that pedestrians seem to think that they have not only a god given right to step out on the road wherever and whenever they choose but also that if any thing does “happen” to them it will be the car drivers fault for going too fast. We have all seen the numpties with either earphones in their ear or a mobile phone clamped to their head or indeed yapping between themselves simply step out in front of traffic .

    I IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM CONDONE EXCESSIVE SPEED ANYWHERE EXCEPT THE RACETRACK but, that being said, where is the evidence of the excessive speeds being travelled at and if the evidence is so strong why aren’t Police Scotland catching speeders in this particular area?

    I strongly believe that road safety is a two way street (pardon the pun) and that pedestrians also need to take responsibility for their actions and those of their wards. The simply fact remains in a “battle” between a car and a person, the person WILL come off worst, it WILL hurt and it WONT necessarily be the drivers fault. If instead of airbags everywhere (now including the bonnet thanks to one Swedish manufacturer) cars had razor wire or sharp points sticking out the from, would pedestrians be quite so cavalier with their own safety?

    One interesting statistic available – of all the accidents involving pedestrians that happened in the UK last year, how many do you think occurred either on a pedestrian crossing or other “suitable” crossing point? – a little time with Uncle Google will no doubt reveal the answer

    REPLY
  • Les McMenzie

    • March 13th, 2014 21:19

    I am sorry to hear that speeding drivers are blighting Lerwick town centre and beyond for that matter. This is a national problem, basically caused by not enforcing speed limits no matter where you live. Current ACPO guidelines are far too lenient towards speeders, preferring to “educate” drivers rather than punish them for putting peoples lives at risk.
    My local police inspector refuses to enforce the 20mph limit on my street, even after being given the local councils own speed census data which clearly shows speeds well in excess of 40mph.
    Self enforcing speed limits DO NOT WORK without traffic calming, only drivers attitudes can change situations like this faced by people in Lerwick.

    Good luck with the quest for safer streets, I have been campaigning for over 10 years for a safer place to live (Newcastle) even after the speed limit was changed to 20 mph in 2006, we still have a race track and a rat run, used by so many selfish idiots, JUST SLOW DOWN, THINK OF OTHERS FOR A CHANGE.

    REPLY
  • John Wilson

    • March 13th, 2014 23:03

    I doot da young eens ir a lok mair mooderit as we wir, we used t duy power tak affs un leave dirty black marks everywye, slew wir back wheel drive cars aroond da corners un aa thing.
    Poor owld Jonathan aye needs somteen ta compleen aboot!

    REPLY
  • David Spence

    • March 14th, 2014 23:51

    Whoever decided to put 1 speed hump from the Queens Hotel to closeby the sea scouts surely have no clue at all in reducing the speed in which some cars reach between the Queens and where this speed hump is. The Council should have atleast 3 or 4 speed humps from the Queens to the beginning of Twagoes road. There has been many a time I have seen young drivers going well over 20mph on the south part of Commercial Street between the Queens Hotel and the beginning of Twagoes Road.

    If a driver going over the speed limit damages their car……..tough……..lesson to be learnt…..(mind you, in this day and age of the legal system wanting to profit at any cost…..the compensation society….may prevent the Council doing its job in reducing heavy footed drivers from speeding……what irony, the legal system preventing the law from being enforced lol)

    REPLY

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