Jump to content

Recommended Posts

It was an accident. At 3.15pm, a lady in her 80s was crossing the road near the cemetery and stepped out in front of a car. The car braked but was unable to stop in time and sadly the elderly lady suffered serious injuries. Brenchley Gardens was temporary closed and the P12s were on diversion down Athenlay Road. I hope that the lady makes a good and speedy recover and am thinking of her friends and family at this time.


Renata

a car going 20mph should have been able to stop.


That very much depends on how close she was to the car when she stepped out (assuming that's what happened). If the car was doing 20mph or less the impact effects will have been much reduced - this is the key benefit from imposing reduced speed limits, not a reduction in stopping times. Assuming the car was driving at 20mph but the driver in braking still hit her, the impact will have been additionally reduced by the reduced speed through braking.


The key victims of car: pedstrian accidents on local roads (where the car is being responsibly driven and the driver is not impaired) tend to be the infirm, elderly or poorly sighted moving into the road unaware of the traffic, or children (ditto). The design of modern cars (making them much quieter if not (hybrid or electric) silent) makes pedestrian care even more important - you don't any longer always 'hear it coming' - so the old Green Cross code which suggested you look and listen is no longer as helpful.

A fierce argument took place at the junction of Athenlay and Kelvington Road that same afternoon. Two guys shouting the odds out on the street. A grey car then pulled up outside No 40 with such force, it ruptured the front tyre hitting the pavement. The driver got out and joined in. As the sound of sirens approached, the driver and one of the guys involved in the argument jumped back into the car and attempted to speed off down Kelvington with its tyre flapping. The other guy they'd been arguing with went back into the house. The police car shot down Athenlay. Could that incident have been connected with the OP?

Thank you for posting the details Renata (and maybe people will think before posting gossip next time?).


I, like everyone else, hope the elderly lady makes a full recovery, and wish her and her family well.


PS...mynamehere....a collision with an 80 year old at any speed is going to cause serious injuries. At that age, bodies are more fragile, especially if there are underlying conditions. I don't thinks it's helpful to automatically assume the car must have been going faster. I'm sure the driver is shocked too. I think most people would be very upset to collide with a pedestrian, even when it is not they who are at fault. Let's leave it to the Police to do their job. There's really no need to analyse what if's here.

20 mph is around 9 meters per second. A reaction time of 0.5 seconds is often quoted as an "average" time for a normal driver. According to google, once you slam the breaks, a typical breaking distance before you reach a standstill is about 6 meters for 20mph. So from the moment that the driver spots the person until having reached a complete stop is 4.5 + 6 =~ 10m, not an inconsiderable distance!
Cars speed along this road all the time and ignore the 20mph limit and many brake very harshly just before the speed camera as they don't expect it to be there. I get quite nervous cycling along this road due to the speed of other drivers. I've always felt it was only going to be a matter of time before there was some sort of accident on this stretch.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Hi everyone, we are trying to finslise our decision for enrolling our son for 3+ from September and currently considering Dulwich Prep or Herne Hill. We like both and appreciate there is no right or wrong answer but what we like about HH is great focus on early years and also being coed. However if we can avoid the 7+ stress then prefer to do that. Dulwich Prep is closer but the difference is not significant. we know children are very active and busy in DP and they have great facilities, but unlike HH, we don’t know much about their focus on personal development and emotional intelligence, etc! Also not sure about long-term impact of being in boys only school. Difficult decision for us and we appreciate feedback from parents if you can share please.    thank you
    • Yeah that was their old policy. Their new policy is to force you to have a water meter and if you refuse they put you on a punitively high tariff which effectively forces you to have one. I was doing well with my policy of polite resistance which was to say yes fine I'll have one fitted but then not actually book an appointment or cancel the appointments they made. But then I was persuaded that it would be much cheaper anyway. 
    • Lots of lovely lilac shrubs in flower at the moment. Would anyone consider giving me a cutting? It would involve digging out a basal off shoot, roots and all. I'd love one for my new garden but I'm so broke that I have to fill it with plants the slow way!
    • You are welcome to have mine for free. I was just about to post! Three panels - 6ft by 5ft - weathered/natural on one side and painted brown on the other.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...