20mph limit needed for safety (From The Oxford Times)

20mph limit needed for safety

6:50am Thursday 4th February 2010 in

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Sir – Thank you for publicising our campaign to reduce the speed limit past Cherwell School (January 14th).

We note the negative comments received but it is overwhelmingly the opinion of the Cherwell community (staff, parents, students and governors) that this is a necessary safety measure.

With regard to the number of recorded accidents, we can confirm that the statistics were wrongly quoted in your article. Tony Kirkwood, the council officer responsible for accident statistics, confirms that he stated that, over the past five years, there had been one slight injury at the junction to Cherwell North Site, plus one serious and five slight injuries at the entrance to the Rugby Club (not just the ‘one slight injury’ mentioned in the article).

We also question why speed limit demarcations should be based solely on accident history data. The 20mph speed limit on Oxford’s residential roads was not introduced on the basis of street-by-street analysis of accidents, but because of solid evidence that fatalities are greatly reduced if cars slow down.

There are 20mph speed limits outside other secondary schools in the city. With entrances to Cherwell School, Ferry Sports Centre, the rugby club and the bowls club, this stretch of road has one of the largest concentrations of pedestrians and cyclists in Oxford.

With reference to the comment that Cherwell pupils “scurry” across Marston Ferry Road between lessons, we would like to reassure readers that students are forbidden from crossing the road by any means other than the underpass during school hours.

Staff are vigilant in ensuring they use the underpass or, on occasions when that is flooded, escorting them across the road.

Karen Bell, Marion Couldrey, Moira Dorey, Jean Fooks, Tim Morris, Julie Stuart-Thompson (members of Cherwell School Travel Action Group)