The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Villagers deploy hairdriers to get drivers to slow down
Safety: Locals fear a fatal accident if motorists fail to obey limit
Hairdriers have become unlikely weapons in a Moray village’s desperate battle against speeding drivers.
Residents in Hopeman are so worried a child will be killed that they have resorted to unusual methods to try to slow passing cars.
Locals have donned fluorescent jackets and pointed the nozzles of the blowers at the road from their gardens to mimic police with speed guns.
Ladders have also been propped up to allow children safe passage between back gardens instead of braving the B9040 road through the village, which has a 30mph limit.
“There are more houses planned so the traffic will only get worse”
Last night, parents said they estimated that cars were reaching speeds up to 60mph leaving the village on the one-mile straight towards Burghead.
Forsyth Street mum-ofthree Carmen Gillies said: “I’ve heard of people standing with hairdriers in the street to get people to slow down.
“The main worry is crossing the road. It’s the main road through Hopeman and people just don’t slow down.
“It might all sound like a joke but these are the sorts of lengths we have to go to to make sure our children are safe .
“We want to do anything we can to stop an accident before it happens. We want to take action now if its preventable.”
Mrs Gillies’ children, Apsen, 6, Blae, 7, and Gianna, 10, have previously drawn laminated 30mph signs to attach to lampposts outside their home to remind drivers to obey the law.
With no pavement on the family’s side of the street, their driveway has become an impromptu bus stop for children in the evenings.
Mrs Gillies’ neighbour, Cath Lyall, said: “Our children have started signalling to drivers to slow down and some of them have given the finger back – they think they own the road.
“They go really fast, don’t slow down for children, and then give them a look as if they shouldn’t be there. There are more houses planned for here so the traffic will only get worse.”
Plans are now being drawn up to launch an action group in the village to come up with initiatives to get the message through to drivers.
Last night, locals praised efforts made by police but said motorists were still putting lives at risk. Heldon and Laich councillor Dennis Slater, who lives in Hopeman, said: “I’m really pleading with drivers to slow down. It’s especially dangerous when kids are making their way to school.
“Residents are having to resort to all kinds of measures to get them to slow down. An action group would help take them forward before there is a fatal accident.”
While posing for a photograph yesterday evening, Constable Roy Cook was alarmed enough by one driver’s speed that he gestured to them to slow down.
The officer from the Lossiemouth policing team explained regular spot checks were done in the area.
He said: “We have had a number of complaints regarding speeding in Hopeman, which we will continue to address.
“This aligns with one of our priorities and supports Operation Cedar, which concentrates on reducing the number of serious and fatal traffic incidents in the north-east. Offenders will be dealt with by either warnings, the offer of a fixed penalty or a report to the procurator fiscal.”
“It’s especially dangerous when kids are on their way to school”
SIR, – The business sector have their champion to fight the rates fiasco, it would be good to have someone similar to stand up against the iniquitous additional council tax hike for residents in bands E-H.
Perhaps the previous first minister who condoned the non-payment of the community charge may have a view? This cash grab has nothing to do with the local authority but is another edict by central government; so much for local accountability. The basic council tax increase for bands A-D is between £23 and £35 per annum whereas for Bands E-H it is from £150 to £600 per annum.
The consequence of taking an additional £9million or so from Aberdeenshire’s residents can only mean less to be spent locally in shops, restaurants and services. Coupled with the rates hike and lower consumer spending, some businesses will either close or start to lay off staff who are themselves council tax payers. Rises in unemployment and possibly housing benefit outlays would inevitably follow. This double whammy should ensure Scotland’s wealth generation continues to be sacrificed on the altar of providing a raft of vote-winning benefits and freebies until, that is, the cash runs out through lower income tax and rates receipts. As an object lesson in how not to attract inward investment and skilled workers to Scotland, it is hard to better.
Stuart Robertson, Barclay Park, Aboyne