Thursday, May 1, 2008
Bikers Beware?
Should bikers beware of other traffic or should other traffic be beware of bikers? That was the question that was being asked over a cup of tea at Haughton Village Hall on Monday night. The occasion was the annual meeting of the Parish Council, which as usual was well attended by local residents.
What prompted the question was the new signs that have appeared on various lamp posts and road signs along the main road from Stafford to Newport. The bright yellow signs, which appear to be part of a road safety campaign by the County Council display the wording “Bikers Beware” along with a black silhouette of a motorcyclist. It that wording which was the cause of the discussion. Some residents felt the signs were tell bikers to be aware while others insisted that they were telling motorists to be aware of bikers. No one really knew the answer but trying to work it out passed an interesting twenty minute.
However, what everyone did agree on, was that the signs didn’t seem to slow the motorcyclists down. Derek Butlin – one of the founders of the A518 Action Group - summed up the situation well by saying that the majority of bikers were sensible and that only a few flouted the speed limit on the road and put both their lives and the lives of others in danger. I certainly support that view as only last weekend I watched a motorcyclist pass my house travelling well above the speed limit, but if that was not bad enough he had both hand in the air in some sort of kamikaze salute.
One really has to question exactly what the County Council Highway’s department hoped to achieve by putting these signs up. They certainly standout, but their bright yellow is out of place in the rural area and they add nothing to Haughton’s attempt to win the best kept village competition! Buying these signs and putting them up will not have been cheap and I for one on Monday night wondered if the money could not have been better spent on more positive measures to slow traffic down on the road. As one resident said “I’m so engrossed trying to work out what the signs mean I forget all about driving. It’s lucky I’ve not hit one of these bikers!”
What prompted the question was the new signs that have appeared on various lamp posts and road signs along the main road from Stafford to Newport. The bright yellow signs, which appear to be part of a road safety campaign by the County Council display the wording “Bikers Beware” along with a black silhouette of a motorcyclist. It that wording which was the cause of the discussion. Some residents felt the signs were tell bikers to be aware while others insisted that they were telling motorists to be aware of bikers. No one really knew the answer but trying to work it out passed an interesting twenty minute.
However, what everyone did agree on, was that the signs didn’t seem to slow the motorcyclists down. Derek Butlin – one of the founders of the A518 Action Group - summed up the situation well by saying that the majority of bikers were sensible and that only a few flouted the speed limit on the road and put both their lives and the lives of others in danger. I certainly support that view as only last weekend I watched a motorcyclist pass my house travelling well above the speed limit, but if that was not bad enough he had both hand in the air in some sort of kamikaze salute.
One really has to question exactly what the County Council Highway’s department hoped to achieve by putting these signs up. They certainly standout, but their bright yellow is out of place in the rural area and they add nothing to Haughton’s attempt to win the best kept village competition! Buying these signs and putting them up will not have been cheap and I for one on Monday night wondered if the money could not have been better spent on more positive measures to slow traffic down on the road. As one resident said “I’m so engrossed trying to work out what the signs mean I forget all about driving. It’s lucky I’ve not hit one of these bikers!”
# posted by Barry Stamp @ 8:50 AM 
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