Dominic Bareham MORE speed limit signs are needed to improve safety before a pedestrian is killed crossing a busy Great Yarmouth road, claims a local resident.Ken Bloodworth, 70, has called on Norfolk County Council's highways department to paint the numbers of the speed limit on Caister Road because he believes a lack of visible signs is causing drivers to speed while travelling into town.

Dominic Bareham

MORE speed limit signs are needed to improve safety before a pedestrian is killed crossing a busy Great Yarmouth road, claims a local resident.

Ken Bloodworth, 70, has called on Norfolk County Council's highways department to paint the numbers of the speed limit on Caister Road because he believes a lack of visible signs is causing drivers to speed while travelling into town.

The retired lorry driver, who lives in Caister Road, fears for the safety of elderly residents living in sheltered accommodation between two sets of traffic lights, one at the Jellicoe Road junction and the other at the Salisbury Road junction.

He said many cars heading from the Caister direction accelerated away from the Jellicoe Road lights at speeds of up to 60mph, not realising the limit was 30mph because of a lack of signs.

Painting signs on the road would be one solution, he said, while he also wanted residents to be armed with radar guns to clock motorists' speeds, with registration numbers passed to the police so they could write to the speeders.

“When they are coming down here at that speed, if somebody happens to walk across the road or a child comes out they have got no chance. Somebody's going to be killed or maimed,” Mr Bloodworth said.

The father-of-one, who lives with his wife Janet, 58 and son James, 15, has personal experience of the dangers vehicles pose to children when, as the driver of a school coach, he was involved in an accident in which an eight-year-old schoolgirl died near King's Lynn 22 years ago. His wife has also lost relatives in road accidents and the couple have been fighting for the last four years to improve the situation in Caister Road, especially as he had difficulty reversing into his driveway which leads directly onto the busy road.

Mr Bloodworth said he often encountered impatient or aggressive motorists while he was reversing into the drive.

John Birchall, spokesman for the county council's highways department, said motorists should always assume the speed limit was 30mph in built-up areas unless they could see signs stating otherwise.

He said part of the problem could be that the speed limit changed from 40 to 30mph along the road and the 40mph section was much better signposted. However, he added that the council's highways department could consider painting the speed limits on the road.

“On major roads such as Caister Road, if it is 40mph there will be repeater signs on the lights.

“If they are not there, it's 30mph - whether or not the driver has noticed the change.

“Drivers paying proper attention should not miss the 30mph signs. They should be expecting them as they approach urban areas.

“We do enhance signs and create gateways into villages to emphasise the start of speed limits, and if other people share the views about the change from 40mph to 30mph on Caister Road, we could have a look at the current arrangement to see whether it is adequate.

“People driving at over 60mph are clearly flouting the speed limits and will probably only respond to a speeding fine and points on their licence,” Mr Birchall said.