“I’ve almost been hit twice recently,” said Dena Smith Ellis. “One time was by a bus, another was by a lorry. I had to stop and get off my bike. I just burst into tears. It was terrifying.”
The Rye town councillor is sharing her concerns about the dangerous speed of vehicles on New Winchelsea Road in Rye with Mayor Chris Hoggart. Both live on the road and see speeding cars, motorbikes, lorries and vans every day. Today they’re watching videos of motorists breaking the 30mph speed limit – including one biker clocked at 97mph almost two years ago.
There have been a number of accidents on the road, most recently a parking car was hit by another car on Wednesday 15 July. On Wednesday 29 July a motorbike overtaking traffic queuing to turn into Rye Harbour Road almost crashed into a van.
The stretch of the A259 has signs warning of the 30mph limit on the approach to Rye, but no signage past the houses on New Winchelsea Road leaving the town.
“The worrying thing is that somebody’s going to get hurt unless something is done,” said Chris Hoggart. “I sadly anticipate it won’t be long before there’s another accident. People overtake me all the time when I’m doing 30mph along here and it’s utterly terrifying.”
He’s now calling on National Highways and Sussex Police to act. “I’d like an average speed camera on this section of the road up to the junction with Rye Harbour Road.”
The mayor leads the local Community Speedwatch team who regularly catch speeding motorists with a radar gun. “When the police are with us we call it shooting fish in a barrel because it takes the officers about a minute to catch someone speeding.”
Sussex Police carry out speed enforcement as part of Operation Downsway. In recent weeks a vehicle was stopped in Rye for excess speed, with checks revealing the driver was uninsured. They will appear in court and the vehicle was seized. A motorcyclist was also stopped in Rye after being recorded doing 53mph in a 30mph zone whilst overtaking. The rider is also due to appear in court.
Image Credits: Chris Hoggart , James Stewart .