Drivers ‘ignore 20pmh limit’ in residential Sidmouth street

Alexandria Road is narrow with no pavements, and has cars parked along one side – but residents say people often race along it at high speed, despite clear 20mph signage.

Susan and Geoff Hollow told the Herald: “We have no visibility getting out of our driveway. If cars were obeying the 20mph limit we could pull out slowly and they could stop in time. Speeding they would crash into us.

“Secondly, there are no pavements and pedestrians, often school children, are having to walk in the middle of road outside of the parked cars.

“What is the point of having a 20mph speed limit, which is the law not a choice, when it is totally ignored with cars driving at 50mph because no one ever does speed checks and it is not enforced?”

While the police are responsible for enforcing speed limits, Devon County Council Highways can introduce traffic calming measures if necessary. The police and council co-ordinate their response to reports of speeding danger spots through the Speed Compliance Action Review Forum (SCARF). The Cabinet member for highways management, Cllr Stuart Hughes, has passed on the concerns about Alexandria Road to SCARF for further investigation, to see if a traffic calming scheme is needed.

He has also suggested a Community Speed Watch, in which residents work in partnership with police and use detection devices to monitor vehicle speeds. If the monitoring shows that there is a serious speeding issue where measures such as speed bumps are needed, the county council will be notified. Cllr Hughes has suggested that the Alexandria Road residents could join forces with a new Community Speed Watch set up by residents of Salcombe Hill.