Forum topic: Another serious "accident" in PG

In the early hours of Saturday morning a driver veered across Aldermans Hill and embedded his car in the shopfront of Bennett Walden estate agents, causing structural damage.

The second example of serious road crime in PG in eight days - the first was committed by a driver who hit a four-year old at the Green Lanes/Hedge Lane junction on Friday 22nd July and failed to stop.

I don't know enough about the earlier collision to know what caused it, but yesterday's was clearly the result of reckless driving, probably involving speeding.

Unfortunately, the London suburbs are plagued by "boy racers", some of them not so young, roaring round our streets and almost always going unpunished. But they are just the tip of the iceberg. There is a much larger incidence of drivers who habitually break speed limits - you only have to observe how many cars set off the 30mph warning signs in Fox Lane, Bourne Hill and Hedge Lane. Most of these drivers probably consider themselves respectable, law-abiding citizens - but they're not. They are acting recklessly and are breaking laws that are there for a good reason - collisions are more likely at higher speeds and their consequences much graver.

Not so long ago many people habitually broke the drink-driving laws but were still regarded as respectable individuals. That is no longer the case. How much longer do we have to wait before speeding and other forms of reckless driving are widely recognised as antisocial and unacceptable behaviour and taken seriously by police and courts?

I couldn't agree more, especially when you say that is not just boy racers. Having just walked up Fox Lane to see a mum coming down the hill at 40 in her 4x4 and child safely strapped in the back, oblivious to the flashing 30 lights, oblivious to the danger. It was the same the other day when I took the family out cycling - to start the journey seeing a British Gas van race past us at the beginning of the journeny gave me doubts I was being very sensible. We desperately need segregated cycle routes and implementation of the quieter neighbourhood scheme.

My nephew came to stay with me for a few months and made an interesting observation by asking, out of the blue, why people drive so fast in Enfield? As a youngster, he was coming home very late at night and couldn't believe the speeds that he saw. My brother independently made the same remark, unprompted. Where are they from? Nottingham. I countered with an honest thought which is that people drive like that everywhere but my nephew was adamant that at home they didn't and wouldn't get away with it if they did. In Nottingham the police tackle it but here they just shrug their shoulders just pick up the pieces when things go wrong. How have we got into this state?

When listing local concerns for police attention I’m not surprised that people tend to focus on acute items (burglary, muggings, ASB – the immediate, obvious, risk) rather than chronic ones such as speeding (and air quality for that matter). But it’s the never ending, insidious damage from such background factors that can cause real damage to communities: with speeding, and inappropriate driving generally, ie too fast for the conditions irrespective of the legal limit, noise (and its health effects) and particularly the reluctance for parents to let children venture out alone to build independence are obvious aspects.


Go back about a decade and an extremely large Fox Lane Residents Association meeting voted unanimously that traffic locally went too fast (without specifying a metric). And since then we have had precisely no action, only the refusal to take any action by a previous Council administration when plans and supporting investment were available . For me personally it’s why the Quieter Neighbourhoods aspect of Mini Holland / Cycle Enfield has been the real draw. With too many drivers driving far too fast, life would be much improved by significantly less of it; and since it seems abundantly clear that drivers can’t self-police, and there’s inadequate funds for the police to police, then I can’t wait for the Quieter Neighbourhood theme to kick in – as widely as possible, and as significantly as possible.

There would seem to be a culture of bad driving in Enfield: Councillor Dines has written to the local press about racing on the A10; Jenny Jones was reported some years back referring to Enfield’s well known bad drivers, a feature I have heard from several people who drive extensively and experience something different when in this borough; we seem to be at or near the top of London’s hit and run statistics (one recent year saw 187 Enfield residents being victim of this crime, 15 fatally, one every second day) and then last month I listened while one local trader talked about a 120mph race he took part in from the Green Lanes / A406 junction to the Crooked Billet roundabout. Doubtless others have their own experiences.

Perhaps it time party politics was removed on this one and all relevant bodies assessed the situation, its impacts and then what can be done about it. No finger pointing this time, or political manoeuvring, rather real desires to improve where we live, work and relax, for the safety and benefit all residents and borough visitors.

I would like to see a 20 mph borough-wide speed limit on all roads (except obviously main routes like the A406). Even though it is often questioned how this could be enforced, I believe enough people would adhere to it to make it 'stick' and it would be invaluable for raising awareness and helping to alter drivers' mindset. And also, definitely, I want to see the implementation of the quieter neighbourhoods scheme to stop the scourge of rat-running. Our one-way residential street which conveniently connects two high streets often sees cars. rocketing up the road at speeds of ?40, ?50; inconsiderate, dangerous, unwelcome.

See this report for news of a third crash by a reckless driver. This time the driver bounced off several parked cars in Hedge Lane before overturning his car.

As a nearby resident commented, "people drive like lunatics".

The driver of this car will clearly end up in court, but the trouble is that 99 out of a hundred cases of reckless driving aren't punished at all because, by sheer chance, there isn't anyone crossing the road and there isn't a car round the corner overtaking in the opposite direction, and the driver just about manages to keep his car on the road, so no "accident" occurs. These criminals are getting away scot free while endangering the lives of innocent people - drivers, passengers, cyclists, pedestrians. But police numbers in London have been reduced to the point where they are unable to do anything about the problem. Or are they even interested in doing anything? Speeding, red light running and other driving offences must be by far the most common types of law-breaking in the UK, but don't even get a mention when we're asked to list our top priorities for police resources.

I live near a section of Green Lanes that has a traffic island. There have been multiple incidents due to speeding over the years, including one that saw 3 parked cars having to be written off in one go. Thankfully the lad that did it was caught.

Multiple complaints to the council fell on deaf ears. One day they finally gave in a little and installed a flashing 30 sign. . .that was smashed by a speeding van driver not long after.

We have been told that speed cameras are only installed on roads where there have been a certain number of fatalities. Grim.

As far as I was aware the quieter neighbourhoods project has been scrapped unless you know something different? Apparently the new environment councillor has decided to scrap this and see what happens after cycle Enfield was implemented which I don't find particularly helpful. If anything I worry that the problem is just going to get worse with cars rat running and speeding around quieter residential roads.