On 24 Aug 2013 at 10:51am frustrated and concerned wrote:
Yet another accident/crash at Paygate cottage on the A26 early this morning. Road closed north, diverted through Ringmer. When are the highways going to realise this is a dangerous bend and it needs sorting and made safe!
On 24 Aug 2013 at 10:54am a wrote:
we are still here.we are watching.
On 24 Aug 2013 at 11:12am Townie wrote:
When are people going to slow down and take responsibility for their own action rather than constantly blaming other people. People need sorting and making safe !!!!!
On 24 Aug 2013 at 11:14am mickyboy wrote:
there is a simple reason for all the accidents on this road "DRIVER ERROR" and has been for the 45 odd years I have used the road. there used to be numerous accidents along the smallholdings/cock inn section, that stopped when the road was straightened, the main problem then was "EXCESS SPEED often involving drink driving" the same problem that exists at paygate corner today
On 24 Aug 2013 at 2:17pm padster wrote:
If it is found there is an accident black spot then it is good policy for the government to do their best to engineer out the problem. One can comment all day long driver error but it will always be so unless we learn from these errors and make changes.
When one finds it easier to blame others about their lack of skill ability or preparedness for driving better not let that confidence lead them to make mistakes themselves.
Oh, by the way I hope no one is hurt.
On 24 Aug 2013 at 3:57pm xplorer1 wrote:
There are moves afoot to improve Earwig Corner, which will hopefully extend up to Paygate Cottages
On 24 Aug 2013 at 4:20pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I don't get how so many people manage to misjudge this bend and get it so horribly wrong. Do people just overcook it and end up on the wrong side of the road when heading south or what?
If speed is the problem, perhaps they should narrow the road and put a chicane in to slow people down.
On 25 Aug 2013 at 6:44am Xcop wrote:
Speed!?roads cannot be all straight
On 25 Aug 2013 at 8:39pm Peasant wrote:
There is already a 50 mph speed limit at Paygate Cottages on the A26 because of all the other accidents. The last one was an ambulance, probably not out joyriding and not on a blue light.
I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for Earwig Corner being improved either. Highways like doing "studies" and they studied this junction to death 20 years ago without coming up with a sensible and affordable answer.
On 26 Aug 2013 at 5:54am Zebedee wrote:
They could put up a bend in the road sign! How hard is that?
On 26 Aug 2013 at 1:15pm frustrated and concerned wrote:
An update. I was wrong the car did not hit paygate cottage. it left the road just after the first bend pass the alotments and crashed through the wall of the horse field and ended up on its roof. The road was wet at the time so speed and tyre condition could have been a factor. But the fact remains that the road needs making safer has drivers cannot seem to take care of themselves!
On 26 Aug 2013 at 1:54pm Bongo wrote:
The road is fine. It's purely down to driver error.
On 26 Aug 2013 at 3:49pm lewes born and bred wrote:
@frustrated and concerned....there are bends and curves on every road. if people go too fast round them, especially in wet or icy conditions, they get what they deserve. Infact, if they do survive, i'd ban them from the road for a year
On 26 Aug 2013 at 4:48pm A person wrote:
That seems quite harsh, Lewes born and bred. There are some roads which are engineered in such a way as to give reasonable leeway for driver error, and some which only allow for the slightest misjudgment. The mere fact that this stretch of road suffers accidents so regularly suggests that the margin for error is very slight. I wonder whether the bend itself has the right camber: I'd guess it hasn't and that's why it's such a black spot.
Accidents don't just affect the driver, do they? What if someone had been coming in the opposite direction? Or there was someone working in the field? That's why we should care - because it might be someone you love who gets mown down by someone making a small mistake.
On 27 Aug 2013 at 10:25am stating the obvious wrote:
The speed limit is too high on this stretch of road. If the sign says 50, then drivers, especially those who aren't local and don't know the road or its history, are entitled to believe that it is safe to go at 50. But it isn't. There are two sharp bends in the road and a great many drivers end up crossing the centre line as they round them. Fine if there is no one else coming towards you but not fine if there is. It is also a very narrow road - as narrow as an A road can lawfully be, in fact - and carries a disproportionate amount of wide-load freight for a road that size. You can blame individual drivers all you like, but if person after person cannot negotiate those conditions safely, then there are clearly improvements to be made to the road itself. I agree with Peasant that that is unlikely to happen anytime soon, so the next best thing is to rescind the implicit declaration that 50 is a safe speed at which to proceed by extending the 30 zone beyond the bends. Simple really.
On 27 Aug 2013 at 2:24pm ar10642 wrote:
"stating the obvious" - what tosh. The speed limit is just that, a legal limit. It doesn't absolve the driver of the responsibility of thinking for themselves about whether they might need to brake for something like a corner, a roundabout or any other hazard that might be in the way. What happened to people taking some responsibility for their own actions?
Now it might be that that piece of road needs to straightened out for the hard of thinking, but saying "person after person" is a bit of s stretch given how many people drive along that piece of tarmac every day. This is not the authorities' fault.
You do realise that most single track country lanes are National Speed Limit don't you? Good luck driving along those at 60mph because a sign said it was ok.