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This week there have been two instances in Palmers Green of cars mounting the pavement and causing damage.  Fortunately, it seems that in neither case were there any injuries to people walking along the pavement - but if there had been, they would probably have been killed or seriously injured.

The first incident happened in Fox Lane on Sunday evening. After hitting and wrecking a parked car, the car that was out of control ended up damaging railings adjacent to the railway bridge.  Given the high speeds that are common on Fox Lane, despite its 30mph limit, it is inevitable that crashes like this will occur from time to time - unless strong measures are taken to enforce speed limits.

The second happened this morning (Wednesday) at Palmers Green Triangle at a location where pavements are often crowded and bus queues form.  A car crashed backwards through the bus shelter outside the Wishing Well in Aldermans Hill and also damaged the front wall of the pub.

photo

Like Fox Lane, Aldermans Hill is plagued with with irresponsible speeding drivers and there have been multiple "accidents" involving cars mounting pavements.

The monthly police crime statistics always include "motor vehicle crime", but this refers to thefts from or of vehicles.  The far more serious crime of speeding and other dangerous driving doesn't even merit inclusion in the police priorities list - I think it's time it did.

Photo sourced from MPS Enfield Twitter feed

Amended at 22:00 hours on 17 May: Change of photograph, revised description of Triangle crash.

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Bill Linton posted a reply
18 May 2017 11:02
There is a countrywide campaign for "20's planty where people live", i.e. everywhere except major arteries. Green Lanes might just qualify for exception, but Fox Lane and Aldermans Hill certainly wouldn't. I live on Fox lane and often see cars speeding down it - or indeed up it. It's bendy and there are parked cars on both sides most of the way and frequent side roads, so going much more than 20 is dangerous.

About 10 years ago there was money available from TfL to make Fox lane 20mph, plus (I think) other measures, but the local councillors nixed it! I know there are commentators on PGC who can fill in the details on this.

The Green Party campaigned for a 20mph limit on Hoppers Rd and the surrounding streets and was partially successful - we got it on Hoppers Rd only, leaving Woodberry Ave in particular a racetrack. The Labour council are to an extent sympathetic to the blanket 20 idea (at least, Chris Bond was when he was enviro-supremo; I don't know Daniel Anderson's views), but aim to get there bit by bit. That's going to take too long.
Karl Brown posted a reply
18 May 2017 12:40
Picking up Bill’s point, yes there are local people who could fill in on the loss of (very substantial) external investment to help make our local roads more appropriate to a residential estate. Terry Neville wouldn’t come out of such explanation looking too good, having undertaken a destructive u-turn on a par with the car through the bus shelter, something he quite recently described in the local press as “his credentials”. Nor would shadow cabinet colleagues, who u-turned precisely the other way, saying, “we were wrong a decade ago”.
So the swerving all over the road and often back again that particular exercise revealed, since repeated with the yes then no support for Mini Holland, just leaves such people wondering if it’ll take the same decade before hands are again put up and the necessary realisation of London (and so many other UK and world cities) moving, via investment, to a useable cycle infrastructure will be acknowledged.
Chrystalla Georgiou posted a reply
24 May 2017 00:53
This incident is horrifying. What is needed are Bollards on the kerbs along the main roads and road bumps in order to increase the public's safety.
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