'Boy racers' are 'speeding more' during the coronavirus lockdown on a road in Bath - and could kill someone, a local man campaigning to make the area safer for traffic and pedestrians has claimed.
Joseph Collins says he is alarmed by the high number of speeding incidents taking place at the junction of Claverton Down Road and Oakley, where the 20mph limit is "ignored".
He argues there is proof the road is 'very unsafe' and that 'nobody sticks to the speed limit'.
Mr Collins claims a Freedom of Information request revealed there were nearly 1,500 speeding incidents along a part of Claverton Down Road - from Claverton Down Community Hall and the junction with Copseland - between 2016-18.
But his fears about the ongoing dangers of the road are falling on "deaf ears", he says.
Speed cameras placed shortly before the junction, or on priority sections of road, as well as speed bumps, could make the area safer, Mr Collins believes.
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'It is a very unsafe area to walk along the pavement'
"We have lived here for a few years. There is a 20mph limit but cars come at 30mph or more.
"Nobody sticks to the speed limit," said Mr Collins, of Claverton Down Road.
"It is a very unsafe area to walk along the pavement and go along the road.
"People cross that road all day."
He added: "We have tried to make changes happen, such as doing signature collections (nearly 400), and we have written to the council but it has fallen on deaf ears.
"Drivers come flying down Claverton Down Road, regularly ignore the 20mph speed limit, and then fail to indicate when turning down Oakley or Widcombe Hill."
'I think people are speeding more in lockdown'
Mr Collins added: "It is an accident black spot.
"Even though the roads have been quieter during the lockdown, I think people are speeding more.
"You get boy racers coming along here in the early hours and late at night.
"This road poses a serious risk to people's lives at the moment."
'Urgent' call for action
In a letter to the council, Mr Collins said the danger of this area warrants "urgent" attention.
His letter said: "On January 26, 2019, three separate accidents involving police were counted by 2pm in the afternoon.
"In the last accident, according to the police officer at the scene, one car was travelling in excess of 20mph and bumped the other car on to the pavement.
"If a pedestrian had been walking there at that time, the consequences would have been serious, likely fatal."
He said a presentation from a local resident cited how a police officer counted 50 speeding incidents in a 50-minute period one day in 2017 and he claims there have been 17 accidents at the junction between 2016-17.
The letter continued to call for specific measures to slow down drivers.
It said: "Such measures that would enforce the 20pmh limit include:
- Speed cameras;
- Priority sections of road;
- Speed bumps;
- Rerouting of Bath University traffic through the campus via the under-used North Road entrance and avoiding this junction;
- Road signs indicating the number of accidents at the junction in the last year."
He added in his letter: "We present you with the above account and recorded facts in the expectation that the seriousness of the threat to pedestrians’ and others’ lives and safety on all roads meeting at this junction is such that it warrants urgent attention and action from the council before lives are lost."
What Bath and North East Somerset Council said
Councillor Joanna Wright, joint cabinet member for Transport Services, said the council was taking this matter seriously.
“I fully understand the concerns expressed regarding excessive speed and road safety at the junction of Oakley and Claverton Down Road and our wider commitment is to encourage a shift in the way people travel; removing traffic from roads, encouraging people to walk and cycle more," she said.
"I’m keen that this junction is considered in the wider area bounded by Oakley, Claverton Down Road and Copesland and it is the council’s intention to develop proposals for this area, however we do not yet have a timescale for this work.”
