Road accidents in West York

Road safety everyones responsibility

Following the revelation on this site a couple of months ago that the largest number of road traffic accidents were occurring on roads where the proposed 20 mph speed limit would not apply, the responsible Councillor (Dave Merrett) was asked at the last Council meeting

“How much funding he intend to devote to reducing the number of accidents on roads in west York where there are no plans to introduce a 20mph limit, what schemes will this funding be used for, and what reduction in the annual toll of casualties can we expect to see as a result of this investment?”

In total of 334 accidents – including 35 where the victims were killed or seriously injured – had occurred on these roads over the last 4 years.

The roads with the worst records are Tadcaster Road (48 accidents), Boroughbridge Road (33)Holgate Road (30), Poppleton Road (16), Thanet Road (15), Gale Lane (15), York Road (14), Askham Lane (13), Moor Lane (13), Beckfield Lane (12), Acomb Road (11) and Front Street (10).

In response Cllr Merrett admitted that there would be no additional road safety investment in the area during the present year.

Our 13/14 local safety scheme programme does not include any cluster sites in the west York area, which tends to suggest the roads in this are experiencing low accidents numbers, which is a considered to be a consequence of the work we have done in the area over recent years”.

He highlighted the work done to improve safety at the Askham Lane/Moor Lane/A 1237 junction by the last Liberal Democrat led Council.

The roundabout there has resulted in a reduction in the number of accidents at that location.