Urgent appeal for witnesses and dashcam footage after girl seriously injured in collision on Low Poppleton Lane

UPDATE –

UPDATE; Officers investigating a collision involving a 12-year-old girl and a motorcycle in York have arrested a man.

A 29-year-old York man was arrested at 8pm yesterday on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop. He remains in custody at this time.

Police are urgently appealing for witnesses, information and dashcam or CCTV footage following a serious collision in York this afternoon.

At about 5pm on Wednesday 12 June 2019, police received a report of a serious collision on Low Poppleton Lane, York, involving a pedestrian – a 12-year-old girl – and a motorcycle which left the scene.

Part of the road is covered by ANPR cameras which are used to enforce access, at a” pinch point”, to buses only.

Council chiefs, when the access restriction was reintroduced, courted controversy by saying that moped riders should dismount when they reached the “bus gate” and push their machines along the adjacent cycle track.

Low Poppleton Lane

A report on allowing two wheeled machines to use the bus gate has been outstanding for over 6 months.

The pedestrian suffered serious head injuries in the accident and was taken to Leeds General Infirmary for treatment.

The motorcycle, believed to be grey or silver in colour, left in an unknown direction. The rider is described as wearing a black jacket and had a white helmet on.

The scene is closed off and will remain so for several hours while Forensic Collision Investigators examine the scene. Motorists are asked to avoid the area.

The girl’s family are with her at this difficult time.

Officers are appealing for anyone who witnessed the collision or the motorcycle leaving the scene, or anyone who may have any dashcam or other CCTV footage of the incident, to contact North Yorkshire Police. Please do so as a matter of urgency, quoting NYP-12062019-0335.

Officers are also appealing to the rider of the motorcycle, or anyone who knows where the rider and motorbike are, to immediately contact North Yorkshire Police directly, or alternatively via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Coppergate ANPR fines upward trend

The Council seems to be struggling to keep up to date its records of fines imposed following the reintroduction of spy camera enforcement of the access restrictions on Coppergate.

Figures released, covering the period to the end of April, confirm an upward trend.

With the peak tourist season approaching, that trend is expected to continue

Coppergate spy camera return – a bad idea!

Coppergate timing confusionIt seems that more confusion is in store for motorists hoping to drive down Coppergate.

As we reported last week it appears that the Council is not only going to restart the enforcement of access restrictions on the road, but they intend to do so using the same discredited spy cameras that led to over 12,000 drivers being unlawfully fined.

A Council meeting next week seems likely to add to the confusion surrounding the Coppergate restrictions. A report quotes revised restriction times of 8:00am – 6:00pm.

This is in conflict with the hours quoted in the local newspaper last week (8:00am – 7:00pm).

The Council’s decision in 2013 was to change the access restriction hours to 7:00am – 7:00pm. It prompted much of the confusion which led to so many drivers being fined.

It seems we face the same problem again.

The truth of the matter is that, as the photos below show, Coppergate is very lightly trafficed for much of the day. There is little justification for tinkering with access restrictions when the City centre is struggling to recover from the bad publicity generated by the Boxing Day flooding.

The spy cameras are disliked and expensive to manage.

Reinstate a 8:00am – 6:00pm restriction and – if necessary – have an occasional enforcement visit by an uniformed officer.  But keep the cameras switched off.

No traffic on Coppergate on a mid week afternoon

No traffic on Coppergate on a mid week afternoon last week

Empty properties on Coppergate

Empty properties on Coppergate

York has been quiet so far this year

York has been quiet so far this year

Coppergate traffic restrictions to be re-introduced?

It looks like the York Council will be considering reintroducing traffic restrictions on Coppergate at a meeting taking place on 30th June.

The restrictions were effectively suspended following a legal decision that they were not properly signed and that the use of ANPR  enforcement cameras was therefore unlawful.

Coppergate - Time to move on

Coppergate – Time to move on

The Council had to agree to repay fines of over £385,000.

 Since the legal ruling, restriction signs have remained in place but the cameras remain switched off. The police have not been enforcing restrictions because of the uncertain legal position.

Most observers feel that the present situation – where the access restrictions are effectively advisory – probably represents a step forward and many will resist any further tinkering by the York Council.

City centre access review by York Council

A number of options to “help further improve city centre access for pedestrians and give greater clarity of the restrictions to motorists” will be discussed on 12 November .

The Council’s last attempt to tinker with access arrangements ended in a farce as the closure of Lendal Bridge and Coppergate both had to be abandoned.

Coppergate - Time to move on

Coppergate – Time to move on

The Council’s Executive agreed last week to reinstate the access restriction  times of 8:00am to 6:00pm on Coppergate (although they will apply 7 days a week).

It remains unclear whether spy cameras will be deployed again to enforce restrictions.

The Council report  says, “York has one of the largest pedestrian zones in Europe, which creates a safer and more attractive city centre for residents, businesses, shoppers and visitors.”

City of York Council carried out a review of its city centre pedestrian zone in 2012, which identified a number of improvements to help reduce city centre through traffic and ensure pedestrians continued to have safe access.

Building on this review, further proposals outlined at the time are now being put forward for consideration to simplify restrictions in the pedestrian zone further and create a better understanding of the traffic regulations in this area (e.g. loading and unloading times),

These include:

  • Extending loading and unloading times either side of the pedestrian zone to 7am (previously 8am) to 10.30am and 5pm to 7pm (previously 6pm). This will give delivery drivers more time and greater priority over general traffic.
  • Unify the access restrictions outside the pedestrian and loading only hours (as above). This will ensure drivers have more clarity on restriction timings whilst aiming to help reducing the volume of traffic in the city centre in the early evening and through the night.
  • Extend the road closure at the Nessgate / Spurriergate into the evening or through the night. Also investigate extending the period of time when the bollards are in place, to either reopen at some point during the evening or in the early hours of the morning.
  • Review the Blue Badge and Green Permit holders access in the pedestrian zone and reviewing the Piccadilly / Pavement / Stonebow vehicle access and enforcement.
  • Investigating vehicle access and enforcement on Piccadilly / Pavement / Stonebow / Fossgate / St. Saviourgate. These recommendations would tie in with the outcome of the Coppergate proposals, which will improve driver compliance with the regulations and reduce general traffic on key public transport routes through the city centre.

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Gridlock forces Lendal Bridge and Coppergate re-opening

Burst water main in York today

Burst water main in York today

As had been forecast, gridlock on the inner ring road forced the Council today to reopen Lendal Bridge and Coppergate to general traffic.

However it wasn’t a major accident on the trunk road network or very bad weather that prompted the Council to remove the restrictions.

A burst water main in the Piccadilly area was to blame.

The Council agreed to waive access restrictions on both Coppergate and Lendal Bridge.

However their decision came at lunch time and was too late to help the hundreds of drivers that had been caught up in the jams during the previous 2 hours.

The traffic restrictions are likely to be re-imposed tomorrow.