Road safety

The Council is responsible for introducing and maintaining physical road safety measures, and for making traffic orders (regulations like speed limits).

How does the Council decide where to put a road safety measure?

A road safety measure needs to reduce:

  • Accident levels, or

  • Traffic, or

  • The impact of commuter parking

Or a road safety measure needs to improve:

  • Public transport routes, or

  • Accessibility for the disabled, or

  • Pedestrian safety, accessibility and convenience, or

  • Cycling routes, or

  • Environmental protection

Have your say

The Council consults residents before introducing new ways to improve road safety.

A formal notice may be published in the press.

Objections

A 3 week period is allowed for objections to be received.

Plans may need to be re-designed (and another formal notice published).

Enforcement

  • The Council enforces parking schemes

  • The Police enforce traffic orders (i.e. regulations like speed limits)

Ways to improve safety

  • Chicanes and throttles - reduce carriageway width for a short length

  • Continuous white lines - must not be crossed

  • Disabled facilities - tactil paving and knobs

  • Junction entry treatments - signs to show you are leaving a main road

  • Kerb build outs - to improve visibility at junctions

  • One-way streets, banned turns and no entry

  • Pedestrian crossings - signal crossings

  • Pelican crossings - signal crossings on roads with high traffic volumes, high speeds or very high pedestrian flows

  • Pillow humps - a speed control hump wide enough to allow a wide wheelbase vehicle to pass

  • Road closures

  • Road junctions - e.g.a give way line or sign

  • Roundabouts

  • School crossing patrols

  • Speed control humps and tables

  • Traffic islands/pedestrian refuges

  • Traffic signals and control

  • White carriageway markings

  • Width restriction - posts in the road

  • Zebra crossings

Transport and streets: