Villagers in Burnt Yates have launched a campaign to reduce the ‘dangerous’ speed limit of the main B6165.
Loraine and Sid Hines have lived in Burnt Yates for 30 years and worry that speeding cars and ‘boy racers’ will cause serious injury or death.
The speed limit through Burnt Yates is 30mph, with a 20mph section near the school. However, the section of the B6165 leaving the village has a 50mph limit and Ms Hines said more vehicles were exceeding this in recent years.
They have set up a Burnt Yates Speed Committee and launched a petition to reduce the limit to 30mph. So far the petition has had 123 signatures.
Ms Hines said she has written to North Yorkshire County Council requesting a speed limit reduction but has received “brush-offs”.
She added:
“North Yorkshire County Council is reactive, not proactive.
“We want something done about the sheer volume of speed and blatant disregard for the rules”.
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North Yorkshire County Council told the Stray Ferret it did not support a reduction in the speed limit.
Nigel Smith, head of highway operations, said:
“Our local highways team has thoroughly investigated residents’ concerns. As always, our priority is public safety, so we must ensure that we use our resources where they are most needed.
“Police support is needed for any change to the speed limit, and the police work to government guidelines set out by the Department of Transport. This section of road does not meet these requirements for a speed limit change to work. Everything that can be done regarding speed limit restrictions is already in place.
“Accident reports for the past five years have been reviewed to look for any patterns, frequency or root cause that would support a change in the speed limit or the introduction of traffic calming measures. This review shows there has been one serious accident in the Burnt Yates area in the past five years. This was attributed to driver error.
“We need to consider the risks against the benefits for this and other locations across North Yorkshire to ensure our resources are best deployed to improve road safety.
“Given the accident history of this section of the B6165 and the guidance on which the police’s decisions have to be based, we cannot, at this time, support the request for a reduced speed limit.”
