Late-night ‘boy racers’ leaving us exhausted, claim town residents

Authority officers say no grounds to cut speed limit

Glenrothes residents claim they are enduring sleepless nights because of lead-footed boy racers.

Residents of three of the town’s largest suburbs have joined forces to call on Fife Council to cut the speed limit on a stretch of the B921 dual carriageway.

More than 130 people from Finglassie, Stenton and Pitteuchar – all of which border the route – have signed a petition calling for the 70mph limit to be cut to 50mph between the Bankhead and Southfield Roundabouts.

They claim loud exhausts are keeping people awake at night, with Peter Ehmann, a resident of the Finglassie area, saying: “At present the speed limit is 70mph and as a result the traffic noise impacts negatively on the quality of life of the many residents whose homes are adjacent to the B921.

“Another nuisance on this already busy and noisy stretch of road are a proportion of cars and motorcycles with revved up and very loud engines, who think nothing of using this stretch of road as a makeshift speed track.

“We feel it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured as a result of the present speed limit, or in fact, a fatality occurs,”

Used by thousands of vehicles every day, the road’s 70mph limit remains in place despite its location running through the heart of several large residential schemes.

However, local authority officers have advised councillors to throw out the petition, claiming there are no suitable grounds for cutting the limit.

Ken Gourlay, the council’s head of transportation, said in a report prepared for local members that only three injury causing crashes have occurred on the route since 2012, with analysis suggesting speed was not a factor in any of them.

Regarding noise, he continued: “No planning conditions were imposed upon the adjacent housing developments to combat traffic noise from the B921 (and) this would also be the case if the planning permission for these residential developments were being sought in 2017.

“Over the next few years it is anticipated that the increasing number of electrically powered vehicles will reduce the overall impact of engine noise.

“The current derestricted status of the B921 should be retained as the criteria for the introduction of a speed limit has not been met.”

Another nuisance on this already busy and noisy stretch of road are a proportion of cars and motorcycles with revved up and very loud engines

Picture: Steven Brown. The section of the B921 where speedsters are causing a noise nuisance.