Saturday, January 19, 2019

Life as an ambulatory traffic calmer

Winter. Dark, cold, but mostly dark. And that means that, in order to get my ten thousand steps in each day, I spend some time each evening walking around the village. Well, I say “around”, but given that the village consists of two roads, one of which is a cul de sac, that means walking a T-shape to the edges of the lit part of the village.

Pavements or, to be more accurate, footways, are not part of our local infrastructure, so I am obliged to walk in the road. And, as I am a responsible adult, I wear an orange hi-vis gilet, so that motorists can easily see me.

One of the side effects of this is that, on seeing me, drivers often slow down to obey the twenty miles per hour speed limit, on the off chance that I might be either a police officer or a community speedwatch patrol.

I’m not complaining.

Given that we are probably one of the most lightly policed counties in England, and that we don’t have a community speedwatch patrol - the road through the village is ill-suited to the use of a speed gun - I probably am the most effective way of enforcing the recently instituted speed limit.

It is well-signed, with big speed restriction signs on the entrances to the village, and repeater signs spaced evenly between the two, but, until recently, the road was still displaying the old thirty miles per hour limit, contradicting the signs. Now, however, that has been remedied, with additional surface decals emphasising the limit, which I’m pleased about.

Nonetheless, I suspect that my days of walking the mean streets of Creeting St Peter in darkness will still require the use of a hi-vis gilet, and traffic will still slow as it passes.

Just another job for the Chair of the Parish Council...

No comments: