A couple of questions: Is there anywhere along this stretch of road which is a recognised accident black spot? Or have there been a series of accidents along this stretch of road in recent years?

If so then I think you have good reason to demand changes – if not then I think you’re going to have to come up with some hard evidence as to why this stretch of road might be considered dangerous.

Sure, it shouldn’t take an accident to prompt change, nor should speeding be tolerated, but I don’t think the council is going to be prepared to spend money without some hard evidence first. Personally feeling unsafe when walking along the pavement is not sufficient - If drivers are regularly speeding, then it needs to be monitored.

In my experience, speed humps only work when they traverse the full width of the road. (No gaps between them)

There is an election coming soon.

Raise this when they ask for your vote.

This post was last modified: 14-04-2014 12:55 PM by Sherwood.

OK, it seems the consensus is that the Highways Dept have done nothing despite numerous complaints.

I have just emailed the Mayor of Lewisham.
There is a re-election for Mayor on 22nd May:

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/mayorandcounc...ction.aspx

I urge everyone to email our current Mayor, Steve Bullock, and raise the problem with him. Assuming he wants to be re-elected in one month's time, he won't be able to ignore a whole community of disgruntled people. Please email/call his department:

Tel: 020 8314 6193
Email: steve.bullock@lewisham.gov.uk

cars are frequently running across the zebra whilst people are starting to cross. it feels very unsafe.

Here is link to a map of the dead:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/datablog/i...alties-map

Sorry - you'll need to search for se23 yourself.

2000-10 there were only 2 minor cycling indents on Honor Oak Pk, and a couple of pedestrians were winged near the shops.
It seems the dangerous driving on this stretch has not resulted in deaths - well not up to 2010 anyway.

Can I suggest that writing to our current mayor is a complete waste of time?

Steve Bullock seems to have been our mayor since time immemorial and despite him being a local resident I can't think of one local improvement he has introduced. (Before you say "FH pools" his original plan was to close them and not replace them.)

IMHO it is time for a change of mayor.

I had the following response from the Mayor's office. I encourage everyone to send him an email. The more people that do this, the more likely they will be to pay attention.

I was interested to note that council bureaucrats still use pompous expressions such as 'Please be advised that ...' I thought that people like the Plain English Campaign had got rid of that sort of thing fifty years ago.

I am afraid this is pretty typical of Lewisham. A standard form reply holding out the promise of some action. I expect in a week or so you will get a further reply along the lines of:

"Dear Sars

I have now had the opportunity of discussing this matter with my colleagues in transport/highways. They have informed me that this stretch of road does not have a higher than usual incidence of road traffic incidents. This being the case the Council is not planning any particular measures at this time.

Furthermore, you should be aware that primary responsibility for a road such as this lies with Transport for London/the Coalition Government and the Council's ability to make any changes to the current arrangements is very limited.

However, please be assured that the Mayor takes the issue of road safety very seriously and will be campagning on this issue in the forthcoming mayoral elections. Indeed if Sir Steve is re-elected he will look at improving the situation on not just this road but every road in the borough.

In the meantime thank you for raising this issue.

Yours etc..."

Of course no action will be taken today or tomorrow. The only thing that really gets our local bureaucrats moving is a bit of media publicity. Sadly you are only likely to get that in relation to a highways issue when there has been a bad accident.

You are probably right, but doing something, even if it's fruitless, is better than sitting around and waiting for someone to be run over.

Again, the Mayor's office is:

Tel: 020 8314 6193
Email: steve.bullock@lewisham.gov.uk

Meanwhile, a few miles away, action is being taken:

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the...urdle.aspx

There are roads in our area that are 20mph (Cranston Road being my own personal bug-bear) and the limits are routinely ignored.

Putting limits down to 20mph is a pointless gimmick that allows politicians to be seen to be doing something but without enforcement it's meaningless.

Interesting to note that the Steve Bullock's 2014 manifesto now includes blanket 20mph speed restriction in borough (see page 18):
http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ste...1396979527

Once again I was overtaken this week whilst doing sticking to the posted 20 mph limit on Cranston Road.

A blanket ban is just ridiculous posturing. How would he actually enforce this? He can't so it's just all hot air.

Understand the concern re enforcement but don't think this is just posturing. There was a petition behind this and the rationale is worth a read:
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/le...20mph-zone

It is not an answer in itself but could have an impact, especially if TfL routes such as South Circular retain a faster limit.

A 20 mph speed limit would be brilliant - no exceptions.

I'd guess the vast majority of the 100 odd serious injuries/deaths in Lewisham last year were on the busier roads like the south circ, so it would defeat the object to exclude those very same roads.

Perryman, you make a good point but, unless I am mistaken, it is TfL that needs convincing re speed limit on their roads. Ultimately, the London Mayor could do this rather than the Lewisham one.

I am afraid to say, and has been already pointed out, that unless there is a willingness to enforce speeding it will continue.

A few years ago before the 20 mph speed limit was installed in the Manor Mount, St. David's Road, Waldenshaw Road area the council did a study on speeds. I remember there being concern that the average speed on Manor Mount was 44 mph. This was bad but what was even worst was the fact that that speed was by vehicles being driven the wrong way down the one way road!!

We then had one day of intense police action followed by the CCTV camera car popping up once a month.

Not much since.

Thanks for pointing that out lacb - I've asked for clarification.
A quick browse shows currently Islington have gone the furthest with a blanket 20 mph limit, including main roads, but not including the tfl managed roads.
Southwark are bringing in a similar scheme next year.

One small step at a time I guess. Then the pressure can be ramped up on tfl.

The difference between being hit by a car at 25 mph rather than 35 mph is very significant, as the impact energy increases with the speed squared.
So a car will do twice as much damage at 35 than 25 mph - and at these speeds this significantly determines who lives and dies - it is important.

Why can't we enforce the existing limits rather than put new lower limits in place? Reducing the average speed of cars (particularly those going faster than the limit) seems like a good idea, but simply putting lots of 20 mph signs up (at a cost of £350,000 to the cash-strapped council - see link - http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2013/12...eed-limit/) doesn't seem like the best way to do this.

When this was last being discussed, I remember reading around and finding that the Metropolitan Police and the Department of Transport both said that the Islington plan was a bad one. Here's a link: http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/p..._1_1663128

The point that they made was that rather than reducing the average speed of traffic (never mind the people who ignore the limits anyway), this would create an enforcement problem where one does not currently exist.

As someone who obeys the speed limit, I am used to being overtaken along Cranston Road, like the poster above.

I can't help but think that a blanket 20 mph limit will create more signage clutter, doubtless lead to more badly-laid speed cushions/bumps and do practically nothing to make the roads safer. People obeying the limit will continue to be overtaken and the roads will not really be any safer for more vulnerable users.

Education and enforcement are the keys to making people drive more safely. Reducing the speed limit without either ensuring people stick to it or understand why is a typical politician's move and oversimplifies the issue.

If the council was able to generate revenue from speed enforcement in the same way they do from parking, I think we'd see a completely different approach.