Yet Another Crash on Barry Road

[trentk69]

Well, this is starting to get ridiculous - there was yet another crash on the Barry Road / Underhill road crossing again today.

I don?t think that anyone was badly hurt, but the ambulance turned up to check the occupants out.

This is the third crash there in as many weeks, and in fact I think there has been two crashes there over the past 4 days...

I think the council needs to do something there, as it has only been luck that someone hasn?t been hurt more seriously.

Take care when driving up Barry Road guys!

[matthew123]

Blinking eck I was only crossing that junction shortly after 12.30 today - have to say the cars were zooming up and down that road without much care so not really surprised to hear another crash.

...and just another reason why Barry Road deserves it's own permanent Thread

[Ants]

trentk69 Wrote:

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>

> I think the council needs to do something there,

> as it has only been luck that someone hasn?t been

> hurt more seriously.

Someone was seriously injured a few weeks back on a scooter. I live on that corner and it's insane how many incidents happen there. I guarantee there will be fatalities soon.

[matthew123]

I think as a matter of urgency they need to install speed bumps on Barry Road and sod the bendy bus!

[Penguin68]

There is a real visibility problem for those travelling on Underhill towards Lordship Lane, particularly when large trucks are parked up looking left as you cross the road. I reckon a well placed traffic mirror might address that problem - although you see those more commonly on the Continent and not here. Additionally it can be quite dangerous when pedestrians decide to cross Underhill Road (on either side) without warning just when a car has committed to cross Barry Road - the car can be stranded in Barry Road unable to exit into Underhill. The 'traffic calming' reduction in road width in Underhill on both sides also makes clearing Barry Road more difficult, as do cars parked up to narrow the road even more. Barry Road and Underhill Road are both very useful rat-runs through ED, as an Underhill resident of 20+ years I welcome the attempts to reduce traffic speeds, but speed through crossings can be quite important. Possibly raised road platforms at that intersection could reduce the speed of Barry Road vehicles - allowing those travelling along Underhill to cross more safely. Barry Road is such a long straight road that it undoubtedly encourages vehicle drivers to forget that it is still very much a local and residential road.

[PeckhamRose]

Yeah more traffic lights, every single junction preferably, more bumps in between every junction, more and more things to punish the already sensible driver.

Or... we could concentrate on the training of drivers and punishing more sensibly those whose driving skills are found wanting and retrain them.

Just a thought.

[Jessie]

Walking my son to nursery along Barry Road i am continually shocked by the cars speeding down the road, and the amount that actually go through the red lights and the traffic light crossing near the Barry Off Licence shop. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents.

[reetpetite]

Im with you PR I've walked and driven my car in this area for years on a daily basis and I have never had a problem with this junction ,just gotta know what your doing and drive or walk with care >Even some pedestrians seem to be away with the fairies half the time.I agree that some drivers do take advantage of the long straight road but anyone with a bit of sense should know there are lots of side roads and should drive accordingly..Punish the bad uns not careful considerate ones.

[Clinker]

Not surprised at all...

I recently changed my cycling route to avoid Barry Road as I was beginning to fear for my life; cars going up there at dangerous speeds and not giving me enough space. I must say I came close to being clipped a few times by cars. I now go up Friern Road which is much nicer...

[EDmummy]

I think visibility is the problem here. I now avoid the junction because I find it difficult to see traffic coming from the top end of Barry Rd when driving out from the LL end of Underhill. This is not a matter of skill or ability of the driver (especially in my case!;-). A set of traffic lights would not go amiss.

[Penguin68]

Pechamrose wrote:-

Yeah more traffic lights, every single junction preferably, more bumps in between every junction, more and more things to punish the already sensible driver.

Or... we could concentrate on the training of drivers and punishing more sensibly those whose driving skills are found wanting and retrain them.

Just a thought.

Interestingly this is a rehearsal of a Benthamite argument - should we legislate so that factory machinery would have to be fenced - thus stopping child labourers falling into it, or would it be better to set a very high penalty on factory owners if workers were injured, but leave it up to them whether to fence or not (or whether to train people to work carefully, employ others to pull children away from machinery if they looked like falling in etc.) It is one of the fundemental arguments about freedom - whose freedoms should you protect, by taking away the freesom of others? British legislation decided that fencing-in machinery (taking away the factory owners freedom to choose what course of action they should take) was the better option. Putting in traffic calming measures is the equivalent, as opposed to setting high punishments on those who jeopardise life and limb through their driving skills or lack of them. I am not arguing that either way is 'right' - but it is nice to see the same philosophical issues as yet unresolved.

[matthew123]

Better to remove drivers rights (e.g. install speed bumps, more traffic lights etc) and make Barry Road safer has to be the best solution - surely 'sensible' / 'careful considerate' drivers can understand these measures?

[helena handbasket]

I think there's a fine line here between poor driving skills and poor design. I don't think anyone was asking for lights at every corner or speedbumps on every street, but this corner is clearly more dangerous than most or the thread would just be named "A crash on Barry Road".

I would happily give up my "liberties" and have lights installed if it meant all the village idiots could be a bit safer. They are, after all, our friends and neighbors.

[KalamityKel]

And how many of you concerned peeps have bothered to speak up to any council representative about such issues as mentioned? Anyone? No? Tut tut

Just putting forth a thought of course ;-)

[PeckhamRose]

It's not my Community COuncil area but I'm with you on that - and we do raise the problems with our Nunhead and Peckham Rye area. And of course they listen, which is why there are more bumps and traffic lights than ever before and STILL the bad drivers drive badly.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Are you suggesting that roadbumps and traffic lights don't actually help with injuries and fatalities PR?

or do we have to drag out the stats all over again

You are correct to say that no matter how many measures are in place, bad and stupid drivers will still be there - but their impact will be lessened

And if you want to enforce the existing rules more rigorously, you are probably aware that this will require methods (more use of traffic cameras )which will have people screaming "police state" before you can say "now that I think about it, traffic-calming measures weren't that bad"

[TonyQuinn]

I did inform the council about this a couple of years ago and they said they wouldn't be doing anything about it, partly I suspect because the emergency services use it for their needs _ irony being that they would use it less were Barry Road a safer place to drive. Barry Road has been a hellish place to drive up and down for years now. I don't know if you guys remember the incident a couple of years back on the corner with Upland when a car pulling out at 6 in the morning was hit by some nutter doing going at a ridiculous speed. Both cars ended up by the doorfront of Barry's off license. Lucky no one was hanging around, even the local fag poncer, to get mowed down! Time for humps, speed cameras, whatever...

[James]

Speed humps create excessive noise, damage cars and are bad for the environment (they waste petrol, causing cars to slow down & speed up repeatedly).

Hate to say it but what Barry Road needs is speed cameras! I never did understand why they chose instead to put up that silly sign that tells you to slow down (which everyone ignores).

[SeanMacGabhann]

I generally agree re: speedbumps and you have listed the bad points. But if the good points includes reducing deaths by even 5%, is that not so bad?

Oh and they don't waste petrol. DRIVERS waste petrol by doing the speedy up thing - if I drive on a road with speedbumps, that's telling me I should be doing 15-20 mph anyway

[Brendan]

What that intersection could use is one of these.

http://www.freefoto.com/images/9906/09/9906_09_31---4-way-stop-sign_web.jpg?&amp%3Bk=4+way+stop+sign

[the-e-dealer]

The Crossing at Upland has little or no visibility too - I use it most days and always cross my fingers!

[PeckhamRose]

I totally agree re. that American type sign. They make sense except people over here would not know about taking turns to go across! A roundabout may work but you'd need four zebra crossings on the roads leading to it. Ho hum.

[Jeremy]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Oh and they don't waste petrol. DRIVERS waste

> petrol by doing the speedy up thing - if I drive

> on a road with speedbumps, that's telling me I

> should be doing 15-20 mph anyway

This is of course true, but you have to be realistic and accept that in practise lots of (most?) people do speed up in between the bumps.

They always seem to get speed bumps wrong, anway. They're either great big lumps forcing you to slow down to under 10mph (encouraging accelerating and braking), or they're small individual mounds which any medium size car can drive over quite happily at over 30mph.

[Penguin68]

Of course, the wonderfully counter-intuitive thing would be to give priority to Underhill Road, not Barry Road (though the buses wouldn't like it). I have never had a visibility problem when in Barry Road about traffic in either leg of Underhill Road (when turning into it, for instance). That's actually what happened along Underhill about 10 or so years ago, when its priority was broken up by giving priority to even more minor roads (and by putting in a mini-roundabout). At the time, as an 'Underhiller' losing my priority seemed irksome, but it certainly also seemed to reduce minor (and not so minor) accidents.

So would enforcing a 20 mph limit on Barry, using those warning signs which light-up when you go over the designated speed.

[espelli]

There is a yellow "Traffic Incident" board there now which may serve as a useful visual cue to slow down/look around etc.