Agenda item

To receive an update on the Road Safety Partnership.

Members considered the information provided by Simon Burgin, together with Dan Horn and Councillor Susan Wallwork.

Members made comments, asked questions and received responses as follows:

• Councillor Miscandlon asked what the Road Safety Partnership (RSP) are doing in conjunction with Cambridgshire Highways about the state of the roads and what pressure can the Partnership put on Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) to improve the state of the roads, and what affect are they seeing due to the condition of the roads in relating to accidents? Simon Burgin responded that the RSP carry out scene visits with the Police and where a fatality or serious incident indicates a road surface issue, changes may follow through surface improvements or speed reduction. He provided an example of the A10 being reduced to 50 mph following a motorcycle fatality involving loss of control after hitting an undulation.
• Councillor Hicks stated that the speed cameras appear to be the wrong way around for motorcycles as they are facing you rather than taking the rear number plate because motorbikes do not have a front number plate. Simon Burgin agreed with the statement and added that the way the system works is for ‘best evidence’ and the speed camera is looking not just for the number plate but the person driving, with mobile vans having the ability to capture motorcycles with oncoming pictures for the speed and picture proof once the vehicle has passed.
• Councillor Hick commented on 3.20 of the report it refers to the fatal review of all local road traffic collisions, and asked why this information is not being used proactively rather than reactively when someone has died? Simon Burgin responded that the fatal review is a separate process, the RSP carries out yearly cluster site analysis looking at collision hotspots, to work out why this is and what changes can be made to the network to change it.
• Councillor Hay asked why this subject has come to the Fenland District Council (FDC) O&S committee as everything on the report relates to CCC and she is concerned that members of the public reading the report will be confused as to who is responsible for the roads and road safety in the area. Councillor Wallwork agreed that FDC do not need to take responsibility for the roads as this does come under the umbrella of CCC and explained that the only reason it has come before this committee today is because it is part of the Community Safety Partnership group and this is part of that partnership and part of that shared knowledge of the area can help form best decisions to be made in certain situations.
• Councillor Murphy asked what the process is with road signs that have been damaged and left on the roadside. Simon Burgin stated that the highways network has an asset register and it is the job of the highways manager to review their part of the network and order news parts for missing signs to be repaired or replaced.
• Councillor Murphy asked if it is legal to drive mobility scooters on the road and all pavements? Simon Burgin confirmed that mobility scooters have all area accessibility to allow them to get where they need to go.
• Councillor Foice-Beard referred to 1.9 of the report where the board makes recommendations to the workstream and asked what usually happens when recommendations are made or given, do they get actioned and are they considered? Simon Burgin replied the workstream leads will study the issues and problem or the emerging trend and then make a decision about what the plan will be for that particular issue.
• Councillor Barbar stated that regarding the temporary road signs they do not always appear to give the correct information and wondered if they could state which road is closed and how far away that is. Simon Burgin agreed they can be confusing, but things are not always under the control of Highways as some of these are put up by energy companies undertaking roadworks and he recommended reporting any signs that are misinformative.
• Councillor Miscandlon stated that the black pole with the reflectors on the top that line the Fen roads are very rarely replaced when damaged by grass verge cutters or accidents and asked if the contractors for the grass verge cutting are held accountable for the damage. Simon Burgin responded that if it is a fatal accident then Highways will replace the poles, but if it is damage by any other means this would be the responsibility of the local highways manager to pick up on in his inspections.
• Councillor Roy asked why there was no acknowledgement of the volunteers that hold the Speed Watch sessions and the impact they have on reducing the speed in the villages. Simon Burgin confirmed that the people involved with Speed Watch do come to the board meeting and the review boards as they are a vital part of the community engagement as well as enforcement activities.

Members noted the information provided

(Councillor Carney declared an interest in this item due to his job role within the fire service).