“My constituents are dying on the roads" says south Warwickshire MP in parliamentary debate on safety
“My constituents are dying on the roads as a direct result of the inaction” was the message given to Parliament by a south Warwickshire MP in a recent debate.
Stratford-on-Avon Liberal Democrat MP Manuela Perteghella led the West Midlands Road Safety debate in Parliament on Tuesday, June 9, in response to fatalities on the roads in the region.
She highlighted collision black spots, which includes one near Ettington.
“Where the A422 Banbury Road meets the B4455 Fosse Way, just east of the village of Ettington, drivers, cyclists, bikers and farm workers navigate a junction that should never have been designed the way it was,” she said.
Ms Perteghella said Warwickshire’s abundance of narrow countryside roads, which are used by large farm vehicles, poor lighting in ‘dark sky’ villages and a lack of enforcement of speed limits were among the specific problems in the county’s rural areas.
She said: “My constituents are dying on the roads as a direct result of the inaction of successive Governments on tackling the scourge of speeding and dangerous driving,
“On 19 May, a constituent contacted me to say that drivers on a road near them were regularly travelling at more than double the 30-mph speed limit.
“I wrote to the Government to raise their concerns.
"On the day that the Government response arrived, there was another fatal accident on that road - the third death on south Warwickshire roads in a few days.”
Constituents at Wootton Wawen have also written to her raising concerns about 40-mph limits being too high.
The MP hit out at national legislation which she says prevents positive action from being taken.
She said: “Every time I ask for cameras, I am told that there have to have been five fatalities.
“With the new national road safety strategy, we have a real opportunity to ensure that we reduce serious injuries and deaths on the roads.
“We must identify the risks before lives are lost and intervene accordingly.
"That is the change in culture that members have mentioned, and the change in policy that the Government must now commit to.
“There must be cultural change at council level, too, as currently there is a reactive culture.”
She added: “Parish councils and community watch groups work hard to gather data, but it is incredibly difficult to implement any type of traffic calming measures or speed reduction orders.
“Often, even if those are agreed, the cost of the proposals falls on parish and town councils.
“The problem is felt with particular force in rural constituencies like mine.”