The Council has a continuing programme of schemes to improve the safety and operation of the highway network. Many of these schemes originate from requests made by the public.
The Council operates an Accident Investigation and Prevention (AIP) Policy based on a prioritised, data-led approach to identify and treat high accident junctions and roads. The priority list is revised each year using the latest accident figures available from the London Accident Analysis Unit. The accident figures used cover a period of three years, which is the standard period used in all traffic engineering assessments.
We also design and implement a number of smaller schemes which are requested by members or local residents each year. We get many requests for pedestrian crossings, traffic islands and other traffic management changes each year and these are prioritised on the basis of the benefits they will bring to pedestrians and other road users. We are able to implement a number of the proposed schemes from the top of the list each year.
In addition to this the Council has a well-established traffic calming policy, based on area-wide studies. This has the advantage that we are able to introduce 20-mph zones which actually work. This also makes it less likely that we will move rat-running problems from one street to another.
We adopted this method in 2001 and divided the borough into areas, using major roads or railways as boundaries. These schemes are funded by money we bid for from Transport for London and we generally can take forward one or two areas a year. We have to use a number of factors, including personal injury traffic accidents, rat running and levels of community use to create a priority list. This is reviewed in July each year.
If you would like to report a junction, which you feel is dangerous, or if you feel speed restriction measures need to be implemented on a certain road, please use the contact details below.
FAQ
I feel that traffic calming measures are needed in my road. how can I bring this to the attention of the Council?
Speeding on roads in residential areas is one of the most common complaints that we receive in this office. Indeed, requests from concerned residents, to provide 'traffic calming' on our road network, are received regularly from all over the borough.
Lewisham’s road safety policy was radically revised in the summer of 2001 when the Council’s Executive Committee approved an area-based approach for future traffic management issues.
The borough has been divided into a number of discreet areas (28), each of which is bounded by well-established through-routes. All of these areas have been assessed and prioritised according to their current need for traffic calming. Those most in need are being investigated and treated now and the rest will follow when funding is approved.
This approach has a number of advantages:
- it provides an opportunity for local communities to highlight and discuss what they consider to be the most important traffic related problems
- our engineers can then effectively address local concerns
- it avoids the displacement of traffic problems onto neighbouring streets
- area-wide measures such as 20mph zones can be introduced.
How are the areas prioritised?
The priority list is based primarily on the accident data, but also includes traffic flow data, and information on the number of schools, parks, hospitals and homes for the elderly, parking problems and the existence of known rat runs. The areas that form the basis of the priority list are bounded by main roads or railway lines and reflect natural geographical communities.
Can the council put a speed camera in my road?
Traffic speeds can be monitored through the use of speed cameras. The London Safety Camera Partnership (working for Transport for London) is responsible for the use of speed cameras in London. Their criteria for speed camera enforcement is that they are only used at locations with the highest numbers of speed related accidents.
Transport for London is responsible for the installation of the cameras and the resulting penalty charges/prosecutions are handled by the Police.
There have been lots of cars damaged in my road. Can the Council put in speed humps?
When the Council assesses an area to determine its need for traffic calming, one of the criteria used is the number of personal injury accidents. However, we do not take into account accidents where only vehicles are damaged. This is because there are no reliable sources of information about 'damage-only accidents' because they do not have to be reported to the Police. We are also aware that there is under reporting of personal injury accidents, although drivers are legally required to report all injury accidents.
It would be impossible to take into account unreported personal injury accidents for the very reason that we do not know how many there are or their circumstances. Knowledge that this occurs cannot therefore influence the priority given to a particular site. The same argument applies to damage-only accidents, except more so, because far fewer are reported. Personal injury accidents reported to the police are used to identify the roads where the problems are most severe, so that resources can be targeted to greatest effect.
Residents' accounts of accidents are often not reliably comparable from one site to another. In assessing the seriousness of an accident, obviously some predetermined and universal standard must be applied, and it is difficult to assess accurately a member of the public’s description of events within such a framework.
The accident data we receive from the London Accident Analysis Unit (LAAU) gives us details of the road conditions at the time of the accident (i.e. was it wet/icy/ dry/daylight/dark etc.), and the probable causes of the accident. The data is confidential.