Agenda item

To present to the Local Committee a draft update to the County Council’s policy on setting local speed limits and a new draft policy to address road safety outside schools, including school crossing patrols.

Report and Annexes A and B attached.

Declarations of Interest: None

Officers attending: Duncan Knox, Road Safety Team Manager

Petitions, Public Questions, Statements:

Questions in relation to the Road Safety Policy from the public audience were invited in this section:

·         A question was received from a member of the public (Cllr Lindsey Dunbar) who asked whether the Road Safety Team could put markings by schools in order to designate the road a school area and as a more cost effective measure.
The Road Safety Team Manager responded that sometimes this can be done along with signage if considered worthwhile.

Member Discussion – key points:

·         Mr John Orrick highlighted that he was opposed to the 24/7 implementation of 20mph zone restrictions outside of schools as they cannot be enforced. He continued that motorists were more likely to comply with a restriction which was specified to be in operation during school hours only.
The Road Safety Team Manager agreed that each site should be taken on its merits however and that when speeds have been measured outside of schools motorists are generally adhering to the speed limits and reducing their speeds accordingly at school times.

·         The Road Safety Team Manager gave the example of Mole Valley where they have installed ‘advisory’ signs. The team are due to do a follow up survey in order to see the outcome and whether they have had any effect and will feed back to the committee.
The officer continued that generally traffic calming measures would work better than temporary (school time only) limits, however agreed that this was not possible across all sites.

·         Members discussed the petition received at the committee and noted that this was the only school in Surrey which was on a 40mph road (on the A25) and considered the statistics in the report showing the number of children injured per month outside schools over a 7 year period. They requested a copy of the petition be sent to the Road Safety Team Manager who agreed to look into the speed limit here.

·         Members discussed whether research had been done in relation to neighbouring/similar county councils to see how Surrey compares and how these new speed limits would be enforced if the police do not enforce it.

The Road Safety Team Manager confirmed that national data had been published which can be used for comparison purposes. The team has also collected their own data for which there is no comparative data available however they do always keep abreast of the latest innovations and take on board best practice where appropriate to the site.

·         The team work closely with the police regarding enforcement of speed limits however the police are unable to enforce them at all times and this would be an impossible task in areas of narrow lanes where they cannot park. The officer continued that they consult the police at every stage.

·         Members asked Mr Duncan Knox to identify if there are any schools in Surrey which require the police to look at and enforce the limits (to reassure the schools also). The Chairman agreed to share this with other Local Committee Chairman also in order to compile a list for the whole of Surrey.

·         The Local Committee Chairman  asked the Road Safety Team Manager if he was aware of the FAST (Felcourt Against Speeding Traffic) group and informed him that they were putting up village signs in order to ask motorists to drive carefully and that they were interested in raising money for speed cameras also.
The Chairman asked on behalf of FAST if they would be granted permission and what the cost of the cameras would be.

·         The officer responded that the Councils approach to speed cameras is for collision hotspots only as they have to prioritise the requests received and that an average speed camera costs £80-100,000.
The police are also normally involved in the back office therefore the costs are ongoing.
Duncan Knox agreed to look at this area again as the Chairman informed him that some motorists in the area had been recorded as driving at speeds in excess of 90mph on occasions (in a 40mph zone).

·         Members continued discussions into the matter of good driver behaviour and education, particularly when driving through the recent flooding. The Road Safety Team Manager informed members that they regularly consult and engage with schools and create a school travel plan in order to increase awareness and education.

·         The officer confirmed that if members wanted to look at roads in their divisions they needed to contact the highways team initially.
If a new speed limit is put in place in any area then the team work with highways, however that with regards to enforcement the team work with the police.

Resolution:

The Committee: