Speeding drivers on ‘dangerous’ road endangering lives
LIVES are being put at risk in a small hamlet in West Fife due to a “dangerous” road and speeding drivers.
Councillor Graeme Downie wants the 60mph limit lowered through Shiresmill and said a local resident could have been killed in one incident.
He said there had been numerous crashes on the B9037 but believes Fife Council aren’t taking action – because they don’t have any record of them.
Cllr Downie, who represents West Fife and Coastal Villages, told the Press: “It’s really bizarre. I’ve had a number of complaints from the people that live there about speeding and cars coming flying round the corner, way above the speed limit.
“It is a fast bit of road coming down from Blairhall and there have been a number of crashes and incidents over the last few years but, from what I can understand, Fife Council don’t have any information about these incidents.
“The residents are really worried that with the new development that may be happening at Comrie, it’ll be even more dangerous as there’ll be more traffic.”
He continued: “I was told of a man who was standing at the wall in his garden who was called over by a neighbour.
“Ten seconds later, a car went whacking into the bit of wall he’d been standing at. If he hadn’t been called across, there was a good chance he’d have been very badly injured or worse.
“But, because the driver wasn’t injured, apparently he walked away from it and got someone to pick them up, it wasn’t recorded.
“So they’re not measuring what was essentially a near-miss. It could have been fatal.”
Cllr Downie said the council won’t cut the speed limit, arguing it’s not a problem as there haven’t been any incidents.
He said: “That decision needs to be made on the right evidence. The officers won’t be ignoring it so evidence must not be getting through, something in the system is falling down and needs to be addressed.
“They have to look at reducing the speed limit as it’s endangering people in a small community.
“Everyone knows it’s a dangerous road and that there have been crashes; I’ve seen pictures and residents have security camera footage, so why can’t Fife Council make a decision based on the facts?”
The Labour councillor raised the issue at the South and West Fife area committee with Police
Scotland community Tony Rogers.
Insp Rogers said: “I think the council would have to come and ask for information from our call-reporting system.
“We have a crash system but that only records incidents where there’s been a casualty or when there’s been damage to someone else’s property. So if it’s vehicle-on-vehicle and there’s been no injury recorded, then there’ll be no collision recorded on the system.
“That’s my understanding but I’ll need to look into that.”
He cited his experience of a previous speeding issue at Bowershall, north of Dunfermline, where there was a “disparity between the recorded calls that the council had access to and what I had access to and local knowledge of ”.
The limit was later lowered by the council.
After the meeting, Cllr inspector
Downie said: “I wasn’t sure the council were getting the right reports from the police and from what the inspector said, if there’s a crash and there are no injuries, it’s not recorded.”
The council’s Martin Kingham, roads network service manager, responded: “In the past 15 years, there have been two collisions that resulted in injury on this stretch of road.
“We previously checked the potential for a speed limit change at Shiresmill but found it could not comply with national guidance.
“What we have done instead is commission ‘Gateway’ road markings to help encourage motorists to approach this small community with greater care.
“We always measure speeds on completion of such works to ensure they have been effective and will share this information with local councillors once the data is available.”