A Caerphilly County Borough councillor has hit out at the “dogmatic” Highways Department for not acting on pleas to install a crash barrier on Mountain Road.
Labour’s James Pritchard spoke out after two cars crashed on the road’s junction with Castle View, prompting residents to repeat calls for road safety improvements.
Witnesses said the road was blocked and one of the cars was overturned in the second crash on the residential stretch this year.
Campaigners are calling on Caerphilly County Borough Council to install a road barrier after three cars ploughed into residents’ gardens in three years.
Morgan Jones councillor, James Pritchard, said: “It seems these are now regular occurrences and I’m under no illusion that there should be a crash barrier there.
“I’m just hoping that the council will see sense and finally commit to a barrier. How many more incidents are there going to be before they put one there?
“The Highways Department are taking a dogmatic approach and should be listening to the concerns of residents. They are so obsessed with the criteria that’s getting in the way of what needs to be done.
“They really need to change their views and listen to public opinion. It’s about time they did.”
A Gwent Police spokesperson said a black Kia and Blue Ford Focus crashed on November 18, just after 12.30pm, and two male drivers received minor neck and chest injuries.
Mother-of-four, Rhiannon Williams, who has handed a petition into the council calling for a crash barrier, said she believed one of the drivers was taken to hospital.
She said: “The front of the one car that was upside down looked awful. It’s a bad one. Where it is there’s houses around.
“That’s two this year now in the same area. I’m sure Highways will make an excuse why they won’t assess the road (for a barrier).
“We handed in a petition and are waiting to hear when they will discuss it.”
Mrs Williams of Heol Cae Barrau added: “The last crash was only a few months ago and Highways refused to reassess the road again because the joyriders escaped and there were no reported injuries.
“There are so many young children that play in all of the gardens on Mountain Road. Thankfully we were lucky yet again that none of them are dead.”
A Caerphilly County Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of this latest accident, but it is too soon to speculate on the cause of the collision and we need to allow the police to undertake their investigation.
“We will carefully consider any information arising from this process and, if appropriate, we may need to reconsider options for the site in future.”
It is a sad fact of life that there are going to be road traffic accidents and people are going to be killed, every time we climb into a car and take to the roads we are taking a risk with our lives. How many of those petitioning for a barrier actually consider their own actions when out driving on the roads, there are plenty of crashes all over Caerphilly, are the council going to line every road with Armco just encase some twit goes off the road, this was a small shunt and to say that a child playing in a garden could have been killed is a little bit of an exaggeration, and why buy a house close to a busy A road and then complain about it. If the residents feel so strongly why don’t they raise the money for a barrier themselves. A speed camera would surely be a better option, though neither a speed camera nor a barrier is going to stop idiot drivers from causing deaths on our roads.
Paul….the way you started your letter i take it you have never lost anyone close in a car accident, you made a very flippant remark about taking a risk with our lives. myself i lost a sister, brother inlaw, nephew and a great nephew who was about to be born that week. in a collision seven years ago. We pay road tax amoungst other taxes to build roads and to make them as safe has possible, although the authorities cant do much about idiot drivers they have a duty of care to make so far as is reasonably practicable our roads safe.
You have the right to say what you want but please choose your words more caerful. because not everyone who goes off the road is a TWIT
There is nothing flippant about my remark, I take safe driving very seriously and I realise how dangerous using a car can be that’s why I know that I am most certainly taking a risk every time I go out onto the roads, far too often I have to take evasive action to aviod being hit by some twit who is overtaking in the wrong place, not looking when pulling out of a T-junction or simply not concentrating on what they are doing. A car is a lethal weapon and most accidents are caused by driver error that could be avoided but once they have passed their test most drivers never pick up the Highway Code ever again or take any extra driver training, it is a privalage to hold a driving licence and have the freedom to own a car, it is not a birth right. Anybody who has caused the death of another on our roads should never be allowed to use a car again, once they have served a prison sentence which most of the time is far too short. I do not take it for granted that I will make it to the end of my car journey but I am always thankful if I reach my destination safely and in one piece. When I was at school the police would visit to talk to us about road safety, it is about time they started doing it again, too many lives are needlessly lost on our roads and it needs to stop but it can only be stopped by improving the standard of driving.
so what happens when the accident is not caused by anyother driver or even road conditions but animals straying onto the highways on a roads that has speed limits of 60 mph,
Also Paul do you ever put passengers in your car if you are that frightened of ever making it to the end of your trip and if you that frightened why drive at all
A driver should always be able to stop within the distance that they can see no matter what speed they are doing, and a driver should never swerve to avoid hitting an animal, a human life is worth far more than a cat, dog, squirrel or any other creature that runs out into the road. Yes I carry passengers all the time and I make sure I adjust my driving style so as to make my passengers feel safe and relaxed, i don’t drive two feet from the vehicle in front and I don’t shout and swear at every other road user, I am curtious and patient at all times, my aim is to always reach my destination safely and in one piece – not as quickly as possible annoying everbody on the road who crosses my path. There are some accidents that are purely that, accidental that can not be avoided, the car may be faulty or God forbid you come across a drunk driver but mostly crashes are caused by human error and poor car control. I know the dangers when taking to the road and I try to be alert to them, I have taken many hours of extra training which have benefited me greatly, every driver should read the book ‘Roadcraft’ maybe our roads would be a lot safer if they did.
Paul considering you are such the
perfect driver and go on courses with your head constantly in the highway code
you will know on a test to drive safe speed must be close to the limit if it is safe to do so;
Please
imagine you were driving down a A road 60 mph speed limit, weather dry and fine, visability very clear and for good distance, a wide and straight road with only the slightest of bends road being fenced lined as all 60 mph roads with fields and livestock’ there is some with scatered trees along the fence and fields behind 3 yard cut grass verge in between,,,you got the picture
please Paul tell me What speed would you be doing or be comfortable doing,,,,,,,,, and If then all the sudden out of the blue no warning ,,nothing something had ran straight in front of you. with no time to think what would you do.
Think of the driver behind you and bring the car to a controlled stop…
Slam the breaks on…
Swerve…
or Swerve while breaking hard.
Or like most drivers good or bad where action is taken when something happens so unexpectantly and so suddenly unfortunetly its not the brain but the reflexes that takes over …No book or courses can help with that. so a advanced driver for the police with 25 years experiance told me.
please
take your time and think before answering because i would love to know what you would do faced in this position
A good driver is taught to anticipate things and read the road ahead by constantly scanning the road up and down. If you are driving along side fields containing livestock chances are an animal may stray onto the carriageway. But as you rightly say, when something unexpected happens our reflexes take over. If a large animal suddenly appears from nowhere and runs across the path of a moving car the outcome is in the lap of the Gods. Some accidents are purely that accidental, freak collisions that are unavoidable but generally RTA’s are caused by drivers doing something wrong, it may be that driver who ends up injured or some idiot could run a red light and kill an innocent person who was just popping down the shops. Modern cars with ABS, break assist, ESP and multiple air bags are making the driving feel invincible but cars are still potential killers and road travel has a certain amount of risk attached to it, I can guarantee you that somebody somewhere will be killed on a U.K road today it’s just a sad fact of life.
nobady can tell me what i dont already know about cars can kill and the risks of driving.
i still dont share your view of scanning ALL roads, for example most motorways drive through the countryside with fields and livestock. how often do you scan for livestock….not at all….and why. it’s because we realy on the fences and authorities/farmers to do their job and inspect and keep it to a good/safe standard.
60 mph A roads are the same. going back to the council or highways agencies they have a duty of care to inspect their fencing along these roads and make sure farmers do theirs…yes the council do have a responsibility to keep our roads safe barriers included where there is a risk to life.
where my family died inspections were said to be done, so why were there holes in the fence with wool around broken the edges where it was obvious sheep had been in and out for sometime..also a farm gate left open where sheep could escape. YES YOU ARE RIGHT HUMAN ERROR CAUSES ACCIDENTS but not every collision is the fault of a driver….THANKS PAUL NICE HAVING A GOOD DEBATE what ever you and i agree/disagree on
The council use the excuse that they only erect barriers or “vehicle restraint systems” in council speak, to reduce the danger to the occupants of vehicles if they should run off the carriageway. In other words they do not erect them to protect the public. This may be so but when evidence of a danger to the public in a particular place has been collated the council should pay due regard to the wishes of the council tax payers who signed the petition.
I believe there is sufficient public concern to justify the erection of a barrier at this spot. Even using the council supplied figure, on the high side in my view, of £42,000 it is sobering to consider that this is just five weeks wages for the suspended council officials awaiting trial. That state of affairs has continued since a year last March and is still on-going. The council would do well to consider this and simply provide the highways department with some additional money and get this job done.
I do not want my tax money to go towards funding a barrier to benefit a bunch of idiots who bought a house next to a busy road where speeding is common. If the residents want a barrier they should group together to fund it themselves.
If at all the council does anything, make sure a speed camera is erected. Maybe the fines it generates as profit can go towards a barrier as well.
Contrary to popular belief the council are not responsible for every single thing that goes on in the borough and they certainly are not responsible for peoples decisions when purchasing a house. Caerphilly Council have I’m sure more important issues to deal with than to pander to a few people who are unhappy with the fact that they have brought a house adjacent to a busy A road, these people could of course take matters into their own hands and move or like you say they could raise the money for a barrier themselves – although then would have to battle the council for planning permission to put the barrier up, but then some folk aren’t happy unless they’ve something or other to campaign about.