I read the other thread on traffic calming, and have to agree with the person there who pointed out that traffic flows so much better these days around the South Circular that it's hardly worth taking the rat runs. I used to use Devonshire Road as a rat run in the early evenings a lot because the traffic was so bad coming up past the Horniman all the way to FH. But I don't bother these days because even when the traffic is heavy, it moves. People who are stuck in tailbacks on Devonshire Road trying to get on to the South Circular are certainly wasting time.

How much local consultation goes into traffic calming? I used to live on Upland Road in East Dulwich. A few years into living there, the end of the road was closed off so you could only exit at one end and enter at the other. This was installed just below my house and I had to drive quite a long way in the other direction to get home. I found it very frustrating, I could see my house as I turned in the opposite direction to get there. My point is, there was absolutely no consultation, it was just put in. Now, I know why they put it in - people used to speed up there, not realising there was a blind corner. I lived on that corner and lost many a wing mirror as someone suddenly had to pull over in the face of oncoming traffic. But for the residents of Upland Road, the solution installed seemed like a sledgehammer to crack a nut. And that blocked off junction has created a new bottle neck as everyone has to use a smaller road with a tight turn with no parking restrictions, where you quite often have to reverse because there just isn't room for both you and the car you couldn't see coming...

Actions and reactions. There is always a consequence when you close off roads, and that consequence is that some other road gets your traffic. It's all very well telling people to use the South Circular, but there are certain drivers who will always use rat runs, whether they are faster or not, because they are convinced they are being clever.