MOTOR-BLOG from Coventry

It would seem that a battle is going on for supremecy of Henley Road in Coventry - the two opposing forces? The Police armed with hand held speed guns on one side, unwitting motorists who have creeped a few miles an hour over the speed limit on the other…

I myself went through a speed trap there a couple of days ago. I was quite angry about it at the time, as the policeman in question was tucked away behind a telegraph pole and was not  visable - I thought that they had to be seen easily?

Anyhow, nothing came of it as it was just him. I found out today that they have to physically stop you to give you a ticket if they have clocked you using a hand held speed gun - it is not a camera as far as I’m aware, just a speed indication device.

Well anyhow, tonight I went through the same spot and it was like a war zone - police were everywhere, which made the guy with the speed gun pretty obvious I can tell you. I drove through at 23mph, much to the chagrin of the BMW 1 series driver behind me who couldn’t see what was going on in front - partly because he was about four inches off my back bumper…

The Beemer driver was darting to the right at every opportunity trying to pass me, but luckily for him and his driving licence there was a steady stream of traffic coming towards us. There is a part of me that thinks I should have pulled over to let him through though…

Speed cameras are supposedly sited at accident blackspots -if there are a few crashes at a site, the likelyhood of one of the breed sprouting at that location are high. So what’s the probem with that I hear? We all want to be safe on the roads, and if a camera reduces accidents / damage / injury or death that’s a good thing - right?

Well yes it is, but only in places where excess or inappropriate speed is a factor in the collisions - put a speed camera at an accident blackspot that is caused by poor design / lighting / signage and it won’t do a thing - speed is not the problem at these places, and believe me - there are plenty of them out there.

I am, as regular users of the M6 around my neck of the woods will probably already have guessed , referring to the utterly dreadful, dangerous and regulary deadly Catthorpe interchange. I have been travelling through it for just over a year now - at least four times a week but not for a while - I avoid it now at all costs. During this year, I have seen many crashes, collisions, minor bumps and a fair few fatal incidents.

I’ve been in two road closures due to fatal incidents and been trapped for hours between junctions while the motorway has been closed for the air ambulance to land. I’m not moaning mind - I would never moan about delays caused by accidents, but it angers me - especially as many lives are being lost and ruined because of shoddy design .

Is it any surprise that our local air ambulance is based at Coventry airport - less than one or two minutes flying time from Catthorpe? It’s a good job it is as it is often called there - to pick up the pieces after yet another incident.

Yes Catthorpe has claimed another victim - another life has been lost today at this appauling intersection - making two so far this year as far as I remember which is at least two far too many no matter which way you look at it. This time, another lorry driver has been killed. When will something be done about this junction?

And guess what - despite of the regular carnage here there is still NO speed cameras present at this fatal site. Is this an admission from the authorities that excess speed is not the major factor of these regular fatalities, and that the cause is the ridiculous and negligent design of the junction?

I can see no other reason why current government policy has not been followed here. The blatant fact is that bad design caused by cutting corners and a lack of proper investment at the planning stage has, does and will continue to cause casualties at this point until the investment is put here and the junction is rebuilt as it should have been in the first place.

This is why there are no ’safety’ cameras at Catthorpe - we the drivers, and they - the government and relevant authorities know that excess speed is not the major problem here. So who do we have to sue to get this deadly junction put right? Can we sue the Conservative party? It was they who OK’ed this bloody nightmare…