Proposal for speed reduction at Langbank roundabout

Langbank roundabout, whilst rural in appearance, has the traffic levels usually seen on an urban dual carriageway. This junction has caused us, the residents, a decade of motoring misery. We are here today, largely due to the extra precautions we practice and a basic survival instinct. We to date, have compensated for the increasing trend of bad, inconsiderate drivers. One example is, drivers leaving or entering the village, often have to brake suddenly and give way whilst on the roundabout!

Recently we observed and recorded video footage. On playback, we noticed an alarming trend, the majority of drivers on approach failed to apply brakes at all. During our short observations, of the small minority who were forced to slow down, it begs belief, that some exhibited clear signs of "road rage" at drivers attempting to leave or join the carriageway.

We propose the following.

Reducing driver visibility to the right will reduce approach speed to this roundabout, which currently allows drivers excessive visibility in both directions. We feel this often results in high entry speeds, potentially leading to more accidents, of greater severity.

Studies have shown on dual carriageway (divided highway) approaches where the speed limit exceeds 40mph, limiting visibility to the right with suitable screening in the central reserve, until the vehicle is within 15m of the give way line, is effective in reducing speeds. The screening needs to be high enough to block the view of all road users (suggest a minimum of 2m) and could be man-made or evergreen vegetation. The costs associated with the latter solution will be minimal.

I should point out firstly, we had recently lost the only local shop serving the village. Secondly, with a growing village population, coupled with many, having a new need to drive to a shop, where they previously were able to walk.This now means residents are now having to drive 4.2 miles in order to buy daily essentials. This results in more circulating traffic onto the roundabout and has subsequently increased the associated risks further.

We, the residents along with our friends and families, surely have the right to feel safe when navigating the roundabout. In reality this can be a traumatising start to the day, even for the skilled drivers among us. The feelings among some of the aged in our village is "they would rather sell their car or not drive as the roundabout causes them too much stress and upset" With this in mind,