A serious accident, believed to have involved a motorcyclist and a young pedestrian, has led to the closure of Bradley Stoke Way in both directions between Patchway Brook Roundabout and Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre.
The accident happened at around 4pm on Friday afternoon. An eye witness told The Journal that a motorcyclist travelling north on Bradley Stoke Way had collided with a lone child crossing the road on a scooter at the crossing point just north of Savages Wood [Streetview].
Police, ambulance and fire services remain at the scene.
UPDATE 4:55pm: A police spokesperson said the emergency services had been called to the scene at 3:50pm. The collision involved a motorcyclist and a teenager. The teenager has been taken to Frenchay Hospital with serious injuries. There is no news about the motorcyclist. Police cannot say when the road will re-open.
UPDATE 5:45pm: Police accident investigators are working at the scene. Unofficial estimate of 6:40pm for re-opening Bradley Stoke Way.
UPDATE 7:30pm: Reports say that the road is still closed.
UPDATE 8:30pm: Bradley Stoke Way has now been re-opened.
UPDATE Saturday 12pm: Police have issued an appeal for witnesses. The condition of those involved in the accident is described as follows:
“The youngster on the scooter, aged 13 years, suffered serious head, abdomen, arm and leg injuries and was taken to Frenchay Hospital, where he remains in a critical but stable condition.”
“The motorcyclist suffered an arm injury and was also taken to Frenchay Hospital, where he is to undergo surgery. His injury is not thought to be life threatening or life changing.”
Bradley Stoke Way was finally re-opened shortly after 8pm, more than four and a half hours after the accident. Photo shows the police road block at the Savages Wood Roundabout, near Tesco Extra and the Leisure Centre.
The boys name is *** ******** he’s in year 9 and goes to my school , apparently he broke his arm and neck , wishing you the best ***
People I know have been saying that this spot has long been a serious accident waiting to happen. The problem is that cars stop in the left lane at the crossing, and then other motorists coming from the roundabout see that the lights have started flashing amber so go to overtake the car, not realising that there can still be people crossing.
It really should be reduced to one lane. It’s not like having the two lanes there helps traffic flow.
@Jamie Thanks for the update. I hope you’ll understand that we can’t publish names at this stage.
@Bert It may not have been clear in the initial report, but the accident happened at the uncontrolled crossing point north of Tesco Extra where the path coming up from Ellicks Close crosses Bradley Stoke Way.
I was on the scene at the time of the accident and called the emergency services.
@bert it was nowhere near the crossing it was where you cross from dewfalls to the nature reserve.
I hope both people involved are okay.xx
I was just down the road when the accident happened. Being a pedestrian myself I am now worried for both mine and others safety on that road. Something should be done to make the road safer! The poor boy was lucky, he could have been killed. (Which at first thats what I thought had happened) The injuries that he has sustained according to Jamie, is absolutely un-acceptable and something NEEDS to be done. Wishing all the best to the motorcyclist and boy, hope he makes a full recovery!
Best wishes to the people involved, I’ve seen several incidents of speeding on that road even after speed limit was reduced, it’s a very straight road and promotes fast driving, some sort of speed control or camera should be put in place, unfortunately seems like a case of horse bolted already
Before we jump to conclusions and demand changes to the road we should wait to see exactly what happened.
Having said that, it isn’t a great place to cross a main road – a flyover or underpass would almost certainly help, particularly as people cross there to get to the nature reserve and back again.
I hope everyone involved makes a full and speedy recovery.
Average speed cameras are needed, we live over looking Bradley Stoke way and it astonishes me how people drive down there. There is no discrimination it’s young people, older people, mums, dads, boy racers, girl racers but these cameras would control the speed of traffic and make the road much safer. My thoughts are with the young boy and his family.
i agree with ruth we need average speed cameras up that road as i am a parent of the child that got hit earlier in the year that road is dangerous.i hope the lad today is ok and our thoughts are with him and his family.
It also needs to be remembered that this is the second serious accident in that exact spot this year. In February a 10 year old boy was hit by a car and suffered serious injuries from which he is thankfully now recovering. The 40 mile an hour limit on that stretch of road is ridiculous. There are 3 schools, a leisure centre and a shopping centre within close proximity to that crossing and many many people use it to get to these places. That road does not need a 40 mile an hour limit. If you look at Brook Way it has speed bumps and a 30 mile an hour limit. The same MUST now happen on Bradley Stoke Way before we have a third incident.
I am one off his best friend i was there when it happened he hasnt broke his neck xx
Average cameras won’t help – the road isn’t long enough. However I do completely agree about the two lanes being unnecessary.
Wishing both those involved a speedy recovery.
Again, re this type of conversation earlier on this site, it is unfortunatley an accident waiting to happen. I live adjacent to the road, i didnt see it, but arrived minute afterwards.
The poor lady who witnessed as she was following the bike in her car, said that the bike couldnt wait to get past them at the lights, and accelaerated off at speed, she estimated approx 60mph. Where the crossing is, which is actually the bottom of Wheatfield Drive and crosses to the woods is unmanned and as it is on a slight bend you don’t see it clearly as you come down the straight past Tesco car park, especially if driving at speed, until it is too late.
Something needs to be done about this stretch of the road, it is silly to have a 40mph limit which people dont keep to on a stretch of road where we are expecting children to cross to go/from school, and for families to enjoy the woods, leisure centre & library.
Living by the road I can ssure you that day and night very few drive at 40mph, even here writing this and with the road not long reopened people are still speeding up and down it.
I dont know about the motorcyclist but the poor lad was in a very bad way and my thoughts go out to his family and his friends who were there and witnessed it.
How about we wait for facts, instead of judging on the basis of a poxy estimation. Because after all you weren’t there and no one knows yet fully.
Firstly our thoughts are with the family of the injured boy, but this has been an accident waiting to happen, this road has a 40mph on it, its far too high, as someone has already said there are schools a leisure centre and shopping centre in close proximity to this road and the speed needs to be reduced.
Perhaps the council will do something now an innocent individual has been seriously injured.
Best Wishes to the Family of the Child and I hope both parties recover soon. I was using the crossing outside Tesco last night the first two cars on both sides of the road chose not to stop at the red lights. People drive far too fast along that stretch, to have pedestrians mixing with cars is high risk. Hopefully someone with some knowledge will do something to make it safer for everyone.
No I wasnt there to witness the actual accident, I did however arrive minutes after and did see the devastation, and I did speak/help the witness with her young children who was following the bike in their car and was 1st on the scene. That wasnt poxy estimation.
Nor were the children who witnessed their friend being knocked down.
When Bradley Stoke Community School first opened their 6th form, there were dozens of careless teenagers dodging through traffic between the leisure centre and Willowbrook centre. After nearly ploughing into a bunch of them while they bounded across the road with the pedestrian light no longer green, I now stick to the left lane only. I’d like to point out that, unlike most people who overtake any stationary cars in the left-lane as the lights change, I did not accelerate as I pasted the queue; hence why I was able to calmly stop at the crossing and let the teenagers complete their crossing. If I was an irresponsible driver, that could have easily been an accident. Therefore I sent an email to Bradley Stoke Community School requesting that they get their students to wise up or stay in the school at lunchtime. The headmaster replied personally and assured me that the matter would be dealt with, and it was – the children are rarely reckless when crossing now, and I am no longer nervous about driving past.
When I heard about tonight’s accident, involving a pedestrian and a motorbike, my first (prejudice) thoughts were that the motorcyclist shot past traffic using the overtaking lane and then approached the crossing at a very high speed, surprising the pedestrian and unable to stop. Anoymous’ post of an eye-witness account describes essentially that situation and i’m not surprised. I see idiots every day – both cars and bikes – racing up that right lane and often cutting up traffic in the left-lane. The right-lane needs to go – as Bert says, it doesn’t alleviate traffic problems, and only encourages people to drive recklessly.
In response to rachel I have been arguing with the council since my son was seriously injured in feb and as we can all see they have done nothing keep an eye on here because if I have anything to do with getting this road sorted as I will all updates will be on here hoping that in 2 weeks there will be a protest and everyone is very welcome but as I said will keep you all updated on this matter
south glos highways had met with my daughter and head teacher at meadowbrook school recently as on feb 19th 2010 my grandson was hit by a speeding motorist at this spot. recieving very serious leg injuries and now registered disabled. south glos said they would not consider traffic calming measures. I feel upset that another child has to go through this and feel for the family as this has a great reminder of that dreaded day for us in feb. I am now going to set up a protest along that root with involving people of Bradleystoke as something needs to be done urgently. my grandson will never be the same and all our prayers go out to him and his family.
yes please keep me posted
Please, please, please can something now be done to slow the traffic down in Bradley Stoke. I have walked my children to meadowbrook school from around the dewfalls area for the past 5 years and god know how many times we have nearly been mown down by speeding motorists and that is whilst crossing over the zebra crossing by tesco and the lights on red at the three Brooks, let alone trying to cross the road without the assistance of these crossings. My thoughts are with all concerned. I have just found out I know the teenager who was involved and I hope and pray that he will come through this.
Count me in on the protest!!
When I first moved to the area just over a year ago I was astonished at how poor the driving on Bradley Stoke Way and the surrounding area is in general. At the time I was riding a moped, but I switched to driving a car when I had an incident with a car in a 30mph zone which broke several bones.
When driving down Bradley Stoke Way at 40, I’m frequently overtaken by motorists who cannot wait to get around me – and often risk collision with oncoming traffic.
More policing of careless and inconsiderate driving is what’s needed. I’ve seen community speedwatch volunteers on that exact stretch of road in the past – but uniformed officers are what’s badly needed.
As I sit here typing this I can hear cars and motorcycles accelerating from Aldi end of Bradley Stoke way and the Tesco end. I kid you not when I say that some vehicles reach speeds approaching 100mph! That is a fact. The road is just like a drag strip. I live right next to the road near the footbridge from Ferndene to Campion. One day someone will die!
Kelly and Debra,
My son was in your son/grandsons year at Meadowbrook. As a result of your sons accident I have warned my son to NEVER cross there and to always walk down to the pelican crossing. I am so pleased to see how strong and brave your son has been in his recovery and hope he continues to do so.
I felt sick this evening when I heard what happened especially as my 9 year old daughter and husband were there a couple of minutes after the accident and saw the devastation it had caused. I think something definitely needs to be done about that road/crossing and would be more than happy to attend or sign any petition or demonstration that is organised. I reckon you could get a lot of support from local people for this and this is something I am happy to help with.
Really hope all persons injured will be ok. And if someone is shown to be reckless in their actions then throw the book at them – in this case it sounds like it’s the motorist.
But let’s pause for breath before we all jump on the ‘speed is evil’ bandwagon. It’s bad driving that’s the problem – and sometimes that manifests itself as speed but not always. 40mph between Aldi and the bend is perfectly sensible – there’s no reason for pedestrians to be anywhere near the road. 30 from the bend to roundabout ‘should’ slow the traffic down where there are crossing points – but even then you’re still going to get the bad drivers – which is the real problem.
And if a 30mph limit was along the entire stretch, how many of the people above would judge themselves safe to do 40 or so at night – a fair few I expect.
Kelly, I think I passed by the accident of your son, shortly after it had happened, (was it in the same week as the boy being ran over in the leisure center?) I was so upset, i had to go home and couldn’t do my shopping, I am becoming choked up now as I am writing, it was awful to see the markings on the road and the bike and shoes, I was a complete mess and debated as whether or not, to attempt to get a pertition going to put in cameras, and a safer crossing. I am pleased to hear your son is much better now although will never be the same, I did enquire and found out about his injuries etc because I just could not get it off my mind. I have 2 young boys 2 and 10 months, so they obviously do not go out on there own yet, but I know I will be worried sick when they do. I believe a shock tactic is required to slow people down here, I find it ridiculous just how much speed they seem to pick up on that little stretch from the roundabout to the crossing for the nature reserves. It is a very dangerous stretch and the older children do often walk between cars as they were doing it the other day. A week after your boy was hit, I was behind a lad in a ford fiesta who went around Aldi roundabout so fast that he hit the kerb and ended up facing me, he just casually turned his car back around and raced off. I would like to offer my support and help to anyone who is trying to push the council etc into making changes on this road. I am not very clued up on how to go about it but would really really like to help especially as i did nothing last time. I think a crushed bike should be mounted onto both round abouts I think the eery sick impact this could have on drivers may make a slight difference. An accident happend near my parents house and a boy was killed on his push bike, the family painted the bike white and it is has been mounted there as a reminder it sends shivers down my spine when ever we pass it. Is there anything tempory that can be done without permission from the council as an eye opener to other drivers, so this accident is not just forgotten about? Please up date about the protest, i do think this needs to be sooner rather than later.
I don’t wish to comment on the events of this evening. I feel for all involved. But this afternoon when seeing the road closed. I knew it would have involved a young person. The amount of times I use this road and find young people running cycling using there shooters to cross the crossing when the cars have been given the go a head to carry on. They can cross that road safely. But a few are not using them safely. Yes people travel up and down that road to fast. I think an average speed cameras would be the way forward and encourage people to use both crossings safely. if you think you need to run to get across safely then it’s not safe to cross!
I hope I haven’t offended any one about this issue. But we all need to learn from this. If motorists stick to the speed limit and pedrestions use the crossing correctly and safely there wont be scences like this today!
WATCH YOUR SPEED!
GREEN CROSS CODE!
My husband and I have also been in touch with the council with regard to the speeding traffic and lack of traffic calming, and policing of this road, we cross this road like many daily and are stunned by some of the driving we see and can hear from our home. We also felt that after yesterday’s incident it’s now time to campaign for an end to this speedway through the heart of our community. As pointed out earlier this road connects our community to the leisure centre, town centre,schools and wildlife reserve. It should be driven down like any other with caution and respect for other road users be it in vehicle, on bike or on foot. It is now time to see something put in place to protect our community from awful accidents like these and prevent a fatal accident from occurring.
How sad, let’s all hope that the young man makes a speedy recovery. I agree that that short stretch of dual carriageway only invites incidents such as this as does the changing speed limits throughout Bradley Stoke Way.
BSW has a 30mph limit for part of it’s length (from the Winterbourne Road to Webbs Wood) I feel that this should be maintained throughout.
Can we make it happen?
Glad to read previous comment.. we all know this stretch of road is dangerous, and the crossing point where this incident happened is inadequate. ALL parents should be advising their kids to use the main controlled crossing point at Tesco roundabout.. which is closer to the 3 schools anyway. I drive this road every day and evening, half the time its stationary with traffic.. the other times its a rat race.. kids.. often seen pushing eachother into roads or crossing at their leasure, green or red light!
From a witness:
TEXT DELETED
Read the full account: Witnessing Tragedy
Editor (9th Oct): The article “Witnessing Tragedy” referred to above has now been deleted from The View from my Window blog. The anonymous author of that blog requested that we delete the article extract previously shown.
I hope those involved all make a full and speedy recovery.
Something definitely needs to change. The road has plenty of history, so surely someone has to listen. I don’t know the lad involved, but it made me feel sick when I heard what happened and I was thinking about it all night.
I feel sure that a well publicised protest would have very good support from the residents of Bradley Stoke, and my family will be standing there amongst them.
@Tony, I am pretty sure someone did die about 13 years ago , a man , half way down the road. Not sure of the circumstances though .
Sounds like the council have been approached by many residents of Bradley stoke and have chosen to do nothing about speeding motorists or introducing some type of traffic calming system, perhaps if the residents of BS refuse to pay the proportion of council tax we pay that goes towards the maintenance of the roads they will do something about it.
I wish all injured parties a full and speedy recovery, and I agree with the general thrust that “something” does need to be done. However, pillorying the motorist in every case is clearly wrong. The Government needs to consider either criminalising Jay-Walking or a pedestrian equivalent of driving without due care & attention or dangerous driving. Maybe then pedestrians will realise they have a shared responsibility for road safety.
Put the speed limit back to 30mph (as it was when I first moved to Bradley Stoke).
The town must be double the size it was then and the number of pedestrians that cross this road has risen significantly, raising the speed limit to 40mph was never going to help anyone on foot.
Some motorists will always ignore speed limits but that should not stop change because the majority of motorists will follow the signs.
I too have had little sleep thinking and praying for this lad, his family and the motorcyclist. Unfortunately the council seem to have no interest in concerns of residents, years ago now when the zebra crossings were being installed at the Aldi end of Brook Way I saw the plans and was astounded, they were only being installed at two of the five exits from the very busy roundabout, I spoke to them and explained the route I had to take, the crossing outside Aldi heading towards Holy Trinity is treacherous, you have to run to ensure safe crossing, at the time with a baby in a pram and holding a four year olds hand, the powers that be had no interest, pointed out the extra cost and that it probably wouldn’t work, I did mention Westbury-on-Try as an example but they weren’t interested, I am now registered disabled and have to attempt it on crutches, no one reduces speed, I regularly see parents with children and the elderly struggaling to cross, again another accident waiting to happen. I hope the people involved have a good recovery.
Anonymous coward as you prob have not read all of these posts my son was not at fault whatsoever as it was proved by police the accident in feb this year as motorists we have a responsibility we are in a metal bubble protecting us pedestrians aren’t and yes kids don’t always cross properly but as in the highway code pedestrians and moving objects are a hazard always expect them to come out at you if you see a child approaching you slow down just incase they do cross we all need to think about our own driving
Maybe the Gentleman involved in this complaint (link below)would now like to comment?? My Husband was one of the Community Speed Watch Volunteers approached by this person who could not have been more objectionable to people (volunteering) trying to help reduce the speed on this road. By the way they were not hiding!!!!
https://www.bradleystokejournal.co.uk/2011/09/16/speed-watch-volunteers-accused-hiding-road-sign/
It is a fact that people drive too quickly on this road but we do then need to accept any mjeasures put in place to address the issue.
My best wishes are with anyone involved in this latest horrible accident.
It would be worth reading the article on here dated sept 16th reagarding speed watch. Its well known that this stretch of road is a hot spot for accidents and that changes need to be made.
Please do let us know how we can help as a community. We use that road every week to get our little boy to school, something definitely needs to be done.
Avon and Somerset Police have issued an appeal for witnesses.
Latest news is that the 13-year-old teenager remains in a “critical but stable condition”.
Read more: Police seek witnesses after teenager seriously injured in collision (Bradley Stoke)
I too have been really disturbed and concerned by yesterday’s accident and pray that the injured will make a swift and full recovery. As a frequent user of that road, I am concerned at the general speed of traffic and would be very happy to sign a petition to get the speed limit reduced. I’m sure that if people using the Tesco centre were asked to sign there would be a huge response. My grandchildre both attend BSCS and I am concerned both on their behalf and all other children. I often see motorists either trying to ‘beat’ the red light at pedestrian crossings or even ignoring it completely! Let’s act now before a life is lost!!
I’m not sure that reducing the speed limit would really change anything. Sure, those of us who stick to the speed limits would slow down, but those who speed clearly couldn’t care less if it says 30 or 40. There needs to be some way of forcing the traffic to slow down, either traffic calming or the like. An average speed camera might do it ? I walked past that very same spot with my dog this morning, and nothing has changed. People were still way above the speed limit.
My 13 year old son was hit by a car whilst returning from BSCS crossing at the pedestrian lights on the same road. He’d watched the light change to red but the motorist also did and accelerated knocking my son down. My son is in the same tutor group at BSCS as the lad involved in this collision. Such a sad awful heart breaking event.
Having thought about yesterdays awful events today, it came to me that isnt it funny that parents, quite rightly, fought for a better crossing on Brook Way so children could go to Wheatfield School, and I guess others on the opposite side, which was supported by the Wheatfield Head…as this was an accident spot waiting to happen. To my knowledge, and I could be wrong, there hasn’t been any accidents on Brookway probably due to the traffic calming and probably why Bradley Stoke with none is a much faster road.
Sorry my point is that there as been quite alot of accidents involving pedestrations (3 to my knowledge), motorbikes (4 to my knowledge) and cars (3 that i know of) but Bradley Stoke Way apart from 2 traffic light crossings as nothing to calm the speed
Local councillors will object to anything that will slow traffic down, so don’t expect any support from those self interested officials!
As stated in a previous post, I am a mother who has had to run towards their child (I was heavily pregnant and holding a 2 year old at the time) who had been hit by a car on this road and was surrounded by paramedics, police and 2 ambulances. I never want to see another accident on this road. I will stand at Tesco campaigning, getting signatures, asking businesses for help however what can we do? The best idea was from Bert to change to one lane however my son was still hit on the pedestrian crossing further along Bradley Stoke Way. This website has been fantastic with superb support for the families affected and shows we are all concerned and care. Thank you Bradley Stoke Journal.
I’m going to meet with another local mother this monday to start looking into setting up a petition. Kelly and SarahO, I’m not sure what you have organised but it may be a good idea if we link up forces. I’m happy for the moderator to give you my email address so you can email me. I will probably also make some efforts to get the local head teachers on board too.
I don’t want to see mine or anyone elses children injured on this road again.
i have read the reviews on this site, and really do feel for the families of the victims of all accidents on this stretch of road, my sincere wishes go out to you all…..something needs to be done to stop the speed of the traffic in both directions, its a long stretch of road and even though there is a speed restriction there is nothing in place to enforce it..other routes in Bradley Stoke now have speed humps.. so now something needs to be done on Bradley Stoke Way to stop another child from being hurt or even killed (so hope this is not the case)
I hope the child and biker recover from their injuries. A petition is a really good idea to bring pressure to bear on those that have the power to sort out the issues with Bradley Stoke Way. I would also strongly recommend representation to the Safer and Stronger Community Group on Tues 1st November 2011 7pm Baileys Court, Baileys Court Road, Bradley Stoke, BS32 8BL, see link below for details. https://groups.southglos.gov.uk/inovem/inovem.ti/bradleystokessg/groupHome
I just don’t get why there is a dual carriageway along part of bradley stoke way at all. That just seems to encourage traffic to speed and do silly things to get past other traffic going at a sensible speed… and for what? to get to the next roundabout 10 seconds earlier?
My old brain cells might be fried, but wasn’t there something in the original plans when the willow brook centre was proposed that mentioned building a foot bridge between it and the sports centre/library?
Like the rest of the posters, my heart goes out to the people involved in the collision. I have a daughter in the same year in BSCS who knows the young boy involved, and I worry when she has to cross BSW on a daily basis too.
Agree with all above about the poor design of this stretch of road. The island between the nature reserve and the Wheatfield exit is one of those where you think you can get quickly across, but often it’s easy to underestimate the speed that cars come at you. I’ve also seen cyclists and motorbikers almost taken out by drivers who’ve come up from Tesco in the outside lane then get caught out by it going back to one again.
For those of you thinking of taking things further, how about presenting at the South Glos Transport committee – everyone has a right to speak for five minutes or present a petition – meeting dates are here.
http://council.southglos.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=117&Year=2011
Whilst it is always a concern to hear of injuries and accidents I would make the following observation. It is not speed that kills but inappropriate speed. There is no reason for the speed limit to change on Bradley Stoke Way. There is a footbridge at one end and a pelican crossing at the other. You don’t need to cross at the point of the accident. Unfortunately some drivers don’t respect the speed limit especially motorbikes who I would say always exceed the speed limit. When was the last time you saw one driving within the speed limit? Perhaps a single lane would make more sense near Tesco/leisure centre but changing the speed limit itself would not help. Hope the boy makes a full recovery.
Sorry ‘long term resident’ but that’s not true, and nor is it useful to blame motorcyclists. I myself am a motorcyclist as well as a car driver and I DO observe the speed limits, ALWAYS. I suspect if you stood at that particular crossing point and counted the number of speeding vehicles, cars would outnumber bikes a hundred times over. Also, to expect people, especially impatient and care free youngsters to walk to either end of the road to cross is being naive. Vehicles and pedestrians don’t mix, and we need to keep our children safe from harm by whatever means.
@Long term resident in response to your comment I feel there are many arguments to reducing the speed limit on BSW:
You are right there is a pelican crossing and a bridge, however, the woods come out right opposite Tesco and it is very unrealistic to expect that people, in particular young people, will walk quite a long way out of the way to cross the road. There is also a drop down kerb and an island which encourages people to cross there as it appears as if it is a designated crossing place. It is often difficult for us to remember how we behaved when we were young, and it is worth remembering that children and teenagers do not think and behave in the same way as adults, they do not have the caution or the experience that adults have. This means that as well as teaching them the right way to cross roads we also have to try to protect them from themselves. This is why you will often find reduced speed limits in built up areas and around schools. These tactics have been proven to reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities on our roads. By reducing speed limits we are also helping to protect the motorist because if you are unfortunate enough to have a child walk out in front of you then you are less likely to seriously injure them and none of us want to live with that for the rest of our lives even if it isn’t our fault. The argument that people will speed anyway is a lazy one, if we applied this argument everywhere then we might as well have no speed limits at all, the result of which would be a huge increase in road deaths.
I can think of no arguments for keeping the limit at 40 aside from reaching your destination 1 minute earlier (if you’re lucky), and personally I can spare that minute if it will spare the life of a child.
Over the past 10 years this road has become more and more used by pedestrians (particularly children) and it is now time for the speed limit to be reduced.
Newer residents may not be aware that Bradley Stoke Way once had a speed limit of 30mph, but most motorists ignored this.
The Town Council wanted to put up 30 “repeater” signs but were told that as there were street lights this was not possible.
However, they were told that if the road had a 40mph limit then they could put up 40 “repeater” signs.
Hence the present 40ph limit.
Sadly it takes an accident for anything to be done these days. Maybe everyone should start taking responsibility rather than start asking for cameras and bumps, which wouldn’t help here.
In the last few months I have had youngsters on scooters tide inot the road in front of my car totally unaware of the danger they are putting themselves into.
Maybe we need to see the bigger picture. Make people use the light controlled crossing, ban wearing headphones whilst on scooters, and ask the police and parents to teach road safety to youngsters to explain the dangers of their lack of experience.
There is a bridge less than 100yrds in one direction and a light controlled crossing 100 yrds in the other direction, maybe folk need to be educated to use these safe methods rather than walking across what is at best a dual carriageway.
In response to Bradley Stoke lady resident, maybe it is time to remove the drop down curb and replace it with fencing to keep folk from crossing at that point, that would separate children from traffic, always a good idea.
Yes that may be one idea but I also think as we should be encouraging people in our town to travel by foot, bike and scooter and the layout of the road should be looked at in relation to this. Is there any reason at all for having that over taking lane as you travel from the tesco roundabout towards the aldi one? Does the speed limit there need to be 40? I can think of no reason for either of these and have to say even though I drive up and down that road regularly I never use the overtake lane as I know it is not going to help get me to my destination any quicker. I have also decided that from now on I will drive that stretch at no faster than 30 so please don’t beep if you’re behind me.
As you said we need to look at the bigger picture which means taking a multifaceted response, so as well as educating our children (which is already done by most parents and in most schools) we should also look at how the road can be made safer for pedestrians to cross (as has been done on Brook Way).
As a motorist and a frequent user of motorways with average speed cameras, this is most definitely not the solution. There have been many newspaper and magazine articles highlighting that all these type of cameras appear to do is ‘force’ the driver to concentrate on their speedo to ensure they don’t exceed the limit. This is not the way forward when we want our drivers to pay full attention to the road and pedestrians at these locations.
I agree that something needs to be done to try to solve these issues. However, we need to be realistic about our options. Speed bumps/cushions along the entire stretch is not viable, as it will slow down the flow of traffic dramatically, lengthening journeys and causing more frustrations between drivers as they follow one person ‘too slowly’ along it – probably leading to even more dangerous overtakes between the bumps.
Fitting a bridge over the road will reduce the number of pedestrians crossing the road itself, but will still not elimate the risk. As another comment states above, teenagers will (at times) be in a rush and want to save those valuable seconds – therefore crossing the road rather than using the bridge.
Fitting another crossing (either pelican or zebra) would be madness, due to the short distance to the other crossing – it would again just annoy and frustrate motorists.
I think the best suggestion so far would be to fence off that particular crossing point, and force pedestrians to use either the bridge or zebra crossing to get to the other side.
One other suggestion from myself would simply be to highlight the issues here to all motorists and pedestrians. Signs to warn of recent incidents, notices for pedestrians to warn them to take great care – maybe even floodlights to illuminate the crossing when it’s dark.
Finally, one more point, aimed at Tony above. You listening from inside your house cannot possibly identify vehicles of any type driving down that road at 100 mph. It is not ‘fact’. It is your belief and view, and unless you are using equipment to measure the speed of vehicles, please do not state such views as ‘fact’.
The two lanes outside Tesco would seem to be there to alleviate traffic blocking the roundabout to the sports centre, not an overtaking lane, overtaking lanes do not exist anyway on British roads, not even on motorways, ask any traffic officer.
Maybe it is time for that crossing point to be fenced off and folk persuaded to walk to the other safe crossing points. Exercise is good for everyone.
Have to agree with Tom above, perceived speed and and fact are two very different things. Lets not accuse anybody here thank you, and I would like to know where the fact that ALL motorbikes speed, came from, interesting perception…
I’m still not convinced that reducing the speed limit on it’s own would make the slightest difference. Do we seriously believe that those irresponsible drivers who speed when they see a 40 sign would all of a sudden start driving sensibly if we change it to say 30 ? Sorry but I don’t believe it. They dont care now and they wouldnt care then. Thats not ‘a lazy attitude’ as someone suggested above, it’s just facing reality.
Sure, I agree it should be changed to 30 all along BSW, but there will need to be other measures too to make it stick, like a single lane and possibly traffic calming as well. That said, that particular crossing point is very dangerous and needs some serious that thought if it’s to remain there.
Does anyone have any news on how the lad and the motorcyclist are ? I sure hope they are both going to be OK.
Some very interesting debate in the comments to this article. Clearly a great deal of concern for these two youngsters, those involved in previous accidents and concern for what risks are still present on this road.
Before I say anything further, may I say my heart goes out to both those involved in Friday’s incident. For anyone to be injured so badly is quite terrible, but when youngsters are involved the additional pain for friends and relatives increases the impact.
Some comments already posted on here suggest that the local council will ignore any request for change, but I think it’s first worth considering the changes that have been made in just the past few years.
While there is a section running west past Tesco that’s two lanes, there also used to be two lanes in the opposite direction. The east section was made back into one lane around the same time that the cycle lanes were first painted onto the Bradley Stoke Way. Now it only splits into two on the very last approach to the roundabout.
Then, more recently, the crossing where Friday’s accident occurred has been changed. Previously, the two lane section just thinned into one, but where the crossing is, the road was still quite wide and thus took longer for pedestrians to cross. The council made changes to the central reservation to widen the place where pedestrians rest during their crossing. This also had the effect of reducing the width of road they had to cover.
Finally, the most recent change was to add tarmac pavement on the north side of the road from the exit of the woods to the light controlled pedestrian crossing. I believe this was done at the same time as work was performed to widen the pavement on the south side of the road for cyclists.
I doubt that reducing the speed limit alone will prevent folks from driving over 40. You can often hear the noise of vehicles racing through Bradley. You know they’re on Bradley Stoke Way and you know they’re doing considerably over 40. The noise echoes over the roof tops and, despite what proportion of vehicles are cars or bikes, it’s always the bikes you hear, because they’re louder. What’s more they do so on the stretches that are already a 30 limit. I’m not saying we shouldn’t cut the speed limit to 30, but then without more information about what occurred on Friday I don’t even know if speed was a contributing factor.
From all the comments made so far, there appears to be a general consensus that there’s no good reason for having two lanes on the west bound side. I must say though, if they’re going to remove that second lane, they should do so with more than just paint. Perhaps as a short term solution, cross hatching the right hand lane would be useful, but digging it up and widening the central reservation with grass would be better.
On the east bound side they didn’t actually thin the road, though they have messed up the point where is splits into two lanes. Cars getting into the left hand lane are either entering the bike lane before the crossing or else crossing the zigzag lines for the crossing, which is also in contradiction to the highway code. Still, at least they did remove the ‘over taking’ lane.
I doubt we should be doing anything to the crossing its self. There are two safer crossing points either side of it and while one person has already comment that it would be naïve to expect children to walk to those crossings, I would also suggest it’s unreasonable to pay for an additional set of lights to account for what seems to fit into camps of either laziness, lack of education or lack of supervision. The crossing already makes things simpler because you’re only having to look in one direction for traffic. Some crossings that are one way help do away with the need to remember the green cross code with “look right ->” “<- look left” painted onto the road. Of the top of my head, I can’t remember whether that’s already present on this crossing, but could help for the less educated.
Additional lighting can sometimes improve crossings, but the incident on Friday occurred during a very bright day so couldn’t possibly have been a factor on this occasion.
I hope some improvements can be made to this short stretch of road, but I really hope the solution isn’t sleeping policemen. I prefer the walking and talking variety any day, catching the speeders in their tracks and educating them.
For anyone interested local Wheatfield Residents have arranged a meeting on Monday 3rd October 6 – 6.30pm at 101 Wheatfield Drive to arrange a petition regarding Bradley Stoke Way
Tom, I would like to say that I also live adjacent to the road, and where I can’t say that vehicles are going 100mph or their speeds alot of cars & motorbikes do go very fast on the road, and you can hear them dropping a gear to gain extra speed. it is also used as a race track by younger car drivers who hang around in Tesco car park at night. You can hear them driving the loop around Bradley Stoke. This also worries me as the lights go out on Bradley Stoke Way @ 1am, and you are also getting people/youngsters walking back from the pub then and even Tesco when it is open late, friday night is the worst night for people hanging around.
I am willing to to start a petition and a protest.
It is not just Bradley stoke way it is also that crossing at the Willow Brook Centre.
I have stood at that crossing and cars do not stop and yet they drive over the 10 miles an hour speed limit.
What I saw on Friday will be with me for a long time yet.
We have all these restrictions on Brook Way why not on Bradley Stoke Way where there is a school, swimming pool and leisure centre?
I used to work with the Evening Post but will be back in contact with them and the BBC to get as much support at possible.
I will allow the Bradley Stoke Journal to pass on my email address to anyone so that we can get something started as soon as possible.
Hi Bradley Stoker, i have posted above that there is a meeting @ 101 Wheatfield Drive tomorrow night (monday 3rdoct) 6 til 6.30 to start a petition, maybe if you could make it, it would be great to have any input you have ref local press.
People have also been emaling the local mp Jack Lopresti direct via his website, but I guess if we can start and get as many names on a petition this would also be a start.
Re Jon, have to agree that to make the 2 lanes into 1, couldnt be done with just lines as motorists would only overtake on these if they are that way minded.
I have seen alot of cars, lorries, even the Tesco Home delivery vans (5 or 6 in a row, when the old store was open), do a u turn on the lined area of Bradley Stoke Way, just down from Tesco and up from the crossing in question.
I think as you say to build the island out to make t 1 lane would be much better and perhaps a fence to stop people doing u turns as well
Ha ha Anoymous I’ve realised who you are now. I’ll see you tomorrow at 6 as we texted earlier!
Bradley Stoker it would be good if you could come to the above meeting too!
I just wanted to reply to a few of the posters who seem to be heavily in favour of car drivers on Bradley Stoke Way. @Tom your suggestions seem to very one sided towards the so called ‘rights’ of the motorist. Your suggestions to simply fence off the crossing to force pedestrians to walk to the allocated crossings will not go any way towards encouraging people to travel by foot, bike etc which is surely something we would all want as it would have the added bonus of reducing traffic and therefore improving traffic flow. Drawing comparisons with motorways is not really useful either when we are talking about a stretch of road in a built up area with many schools, shops etc. I am both a pedestrian who uses said crossing and a car driver who uses said road and at the moment the usage is very weighted in favour of car drivers. I also do alot of driving for my job and am a ‘motorist’ but would be more than happy to see traffic calming measures put in place on Bradley stoke Way. What would work best eg. 30 mile limit, speed bumps, extra crossing etc I don’t know. What I would hope is that experts in traffic calming could be consulted to come up with workable solutions. I hardly think building fences all along our residential roads is a solution.
@Jon I don’t think it is ‘lazy’ for people to want to cross at that point, I do when I walk from the woods to tesco. I rather feel it is more ‘lazy’ to drive the 2 miles from the other side of the woods to tesco. I also don’t think it is lack of supervision either as it is normal to expect secondary school age children to be able to walk to the shops, leisure centre, school etc. I do accept that education is an important part of any safety strategy, educating both pedestrians and car drivers, but it would be foolish to rely only on this as a solution.
I say make it more like Brook Way, yes the speed bumps are a bit annoying but I always complete my journey in good time when I use that road and I’m happy to put up with the annoyance if it stops a single other child being seriously injured or even killed on that road.
Interesting comments and an awful lot of assumptions.
We do not know if excess speed was a factor or if lack of taking time to check the road before crossing was a factor, all the talk of traffic calming, which of course is tricky on any major road used by the emergency services, if I was depending on an ambulance in an emergency I wouldn’t want it to have to negotiate speed bumps.
Once the crash investigation guys have some concrete evidence from their measurements then they would seem to be the best folk to offer advice on prevention. Petitions and the like at this stage seems to be just gut reactions without fact.
As said, my feelings go out to those involved and wish all a speedy recovery.
That said, I can’t believe a few of the comments here such as ‘naive to expect children to cross further up the road’ and ‘unrealistic’. Sorry, it’s unrealistic to expect your children to cross at a safe point in the road?! Come again.
It is the main road through the town, a 30mph limit is just going to cause further congestion. I’ve been ‘stuck’ behind someone driving 30mph at various points in the 40 zones and a tailback appears very quickly, heaven forbid if the entire stretch was made in to a 30 limit.
How about, as others have mentioned, constructing more crossings to allow our impatient youngsters to cross at the point it appears to suit them? Personally I’m shocked that a crossing of some form hasn’t already been put on that stretch considering how popular it is with people going from/to the woods.
Speed doesn’t kill, inappropriate and unsafe use of speed does.
it would be a good ideal to put the petiton in the libary, where even the surrounding area,s coulds sign it,,
@ Bradley Stoke lady resident: Sorry, Lazy was a rather simple way to say what I was thinking. I’m not suggesting that folks that use the crossing are lazy. Perhaps a better explanation is to compare the zebra crossing on the Tesco access road. Many times, folks don’t use it but rather they come out near Ladbrookes, walk the opposite way from the crossing to the service bays behind boots and then dodge the traffic. It’s not an official crossing point, but then they’re just crossing the road, so why not. I can see the logic. Sometimes the traffic is quiet and you can cross okay without the benefit of a crossing. The other day (as I so often see) there were three youngsters (I’d guess 10-12 years of age) stood at the edge of the road, edgy, waiting for their chance, legs at a stance as if waiting to start the 100m race. While they wait, I’m trundling along in a constant stream of cars driving in, while another constant stream drives out. So, I said “laziness, lack of education or lack of supervision”, I was really referring to this type of situation. Is this example laziness or lack of education? If it was me trying to cross, I’d have recognised there’s too much traffic to safely cross, realised I’d either be waiting a while or else risking my life and therefore headed to the crossing. Sorry, long explanation, just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.
On a different topic … a risk posed at that crossing (at the moment) is the unpredictable nature of speed. Cars approaching in the inside lane may approach at a speed that appears reasonable and therefore a pedestrian may deduce they have sufficient time to cross. That there is an ‘overtaking’ lane brings a risk the pedestrian cannot realistically know the time they actually have to cross.
So, take away the second lane and the pedestrian has a better chance to estimate the time they have to cross.
Now … speed bumps. The miracle cure for speed? Okay, I’ll agree you do reduce your speed to account for them. A miracle cure to improve safety? I’m not so sure.
When exiting Aldi and trying to pull out onto Brook Way, there are speed bumps in close proximity.
This doesn’t always help. In order to pass a speed bump you first slow and then accelerate. Leaving the Aldi car park, with no speed bump, you’d look right, you’d look left (repeat as appropriate) and calculate the rate of approach of vehicles. Add speed bumps into the equation and what speed are they doing? How long before the next vehicle arrives? I’m not saying speed bumps are a bad thing, but if the problem with the two lanes is that you can’t calculate the rate of approach of vehicles, will speed bumps help?
Ignoring Brook Way to a moment, many streets in Bradley have speed bumps. Where there are houses lining the streets and kids playing, yes speed kills and speed bumps keep that speed to a reasonable minimum. Having said that, those streets tend to be driven either at the start or end of your journey.
Bradley stoke way certainly shouldn’t be compared to a motorway, but it is an arterial road through Bradley. Could we please, please, please consider other options before installing humps along the road? Please?
I have seen lots of teens jumping out in front of cars and bikes so it might not be the cycalist falt i have seen them just like jump out i hope the child recovers but maybe we should be teaching for road saftey with scooters
Traffic bumps? I would urge the traffic planners (and all motorists) to think about, and balance, the extra ‘seconds’ which motorists may lose in their journeys through Bradley Stoke – with the potential loss of ‘years’ of normal life which any accident victim(s) might suffer.
Of course, traffic pimples, as found on Brook Way, are pretty ineffective against any would-be speeding motor-cyclist!
As a user of BSW in mid-afternoon, when this incident happened, I know that when I drive the road at just under the 40 mph speed limit I very often have other drivers either tail-gating or passing me.
My thoughts go out to the boy and his family.praying for his speedy recovery.
I am really pleased at the number of responses on. here which shows the level of feeling. In quick response to some of these comments speed bumps may or may not be the answer but they should be considering alongside other traffic calming solutions by the council as wr have had 2 serious incidents in the same place this year. This is not a gut reaction without knowing the facts as if you read earlier in the thread the police do know what happened in the first incident. Besides anyone with any common sense could stand on that road and identify the dangers regardless of there already being an accident. Do we have to wait for another one?
It should be remembered that children and teenagers have very little concept of consequences arising from actions. We’ve all been in a position when we’ve gambolled and crossed the road when there is a crossing a 100 yards further up! As responsible motorists/motorcyclists we should stick to the speed limit and if seeing children or animals on the pavement assume that they are going to run out in front of us. That way if they do we are prepared and able to take evasive action – if not then we have nothing to worry about!! I just hope and pray that all concerned will be restored to full health and strength irrespective of who’s fault it is!
My thoughts go to all those involved and hope for a speedy recovery for them both,
I am a biker and have been using this road for the commute to work since trench lane has been closed for the new bridge and i have seen and realized the danger this road has! not just at the point where this incident happened, i have experienced a car pushing me into the kerb at the end of the 2 lane bit as he had run out of road ! i have also been overtaken by cars, a van and even another bike overtook me a van and 2 cars at high speed on the long stretch.
excess speed is the issue on this road for sure and also the two lanes into one is very badly laid out and needs changing for sure.
again hope the two involved recover asap
The 2 lanes by the lights are there, I assume, to stop traffic from queuing onto the roundabout. To the point about people using that lane to race past traffic in the left lane – I have seen plenty of this but I also see a LOT of people in the left lane bunching up and not letting people back in from the right-hand lane. This is an unfortunate consequence of the British queuing mentality – we need to put some zip merge signs up down there (not that people should need to be told but there you go).
There is a lot of speculation above that speeding caused this accident but none of us have any idea what caused it. Speeding by itself causes a small percentage of accidents (as tragic as even that small number is), what it does though is exaggerate the effects of an accident. BTW, it is very difficult to tell how fast a car/motorbike is going just by the noise it makes – some vehicles are noisy and some aren’t.
As to the subject of speed bumps on Bradley Stoke Way – please don’t do this. As someone has already said, this is the main arterial route through Bradley Stoke and needs to be usable. I would fully support the use of speed cameras at the bottom by Tesco – as much as I dislike speed cameras this is exactly the sort of thing they were invented for.
I still think that the safest thing to do is to keep pedestrians and traffic separated. If people are too lazy to use the proper crossings then have to be aware that there is a certain risk to their actions.
The council were already approached after the accident in February and they will not pay for a speed camera as they are currently taking away speed cameras in the county.
A raised crossing has been suggested, like the one on Brookway and perhaps better signage, and awareness.
My daughter was with the boy who got knocked down on friday, they are best friends. What my daughter saw will scar her emotionally for a very, very long time as she saw everything that happened to him.
I have never been fond of motorbikes, I think they are a danger to not only the people who ride them but to other’s around them. Too many riders of motorbikes think they are invincible and this alone is a sad theory.
This accident has been tragic and could of so easily of been avioded. I know the boy involved well and while I will not divulge any information as to his recovery out of respect to his family what I can say is it is serious and he has sustained a lot of injuries.
My daughter keeps having nightmares and flash backs to that day, she cannot eat and keeps crying. There is every chance she may well need professional help to help her through this trauma.
Something needs doing about that road and urgently and I fully back any plans to make this happen. It’s about time the council took notice of the residents of Bradley Stoke before it’s too late.
the fact that the pavement is lowered and there is a central reservation gives a pretty clear idea that this is a form of crossing. This is also why the majority of both kids and adults use this crossing as its the closest one leading through the woods and to tescos/wheatfield. I think this crossing obviously needs to be changed, but as it stands its obviously classed as a crossing otherwise there would be no need for the middle reservation. So I think blaming people for using it is a little pathetic.
I have said for ages this part definately needs a pedestrian crossing,this is the 4th incident same place lots of kids use this and cannot be bothered to walk all the way down to pedestrian by bradley stoke leisure centre,my kids have done it themselves without my knowledge when I have begged and pleaded with them to use the lights. Please for gods sake do something now before someone will get killed, Thoughts are with the boy and his family and a speedy recovery
I would like to say that some people seem to be blaming the motorcyclist without knowing the full story. Speculation is unfair and we should wait for the facts.
I myself ride motorbikes as well as drive a car – both are just as dangerous as each other as are push bikes, scooters and any other roadworthy vehicle. Unfortunately i drive this road daily and children / teenagers often run out into the road without looking. I have a teenager and always stress that she cross the road in the allocated place – to do otherwise is dangerous. I have contacted the school several times as often the kids run out into the road without looking and i have nearly hit a few myself (and NO i was not speeding!). My wishes for a speedy recovery to the lad as well as the motorcyclist.
I fully back the council making changes, but at the same time there is a crossing less than 100 yards down the road!
He crossed at a crossing. Yes there is another one further down the road but he chose the closest CROSSING like 99 percent of other people would have done. He had also not just stepped onto the road but was infact 3/4 of the way accross it and almost to the central resveration. There is (at the moment) no proof the motorcyclist was speeding either. The facts will come out soon, until then neither the child or driver can be blamed. And no, this is not ‘guessed’ or ‘word of mouth’ information.
Seems to be three options:
1) Cheap: Paint crossing on road and stick two belisha beacons down.
2) Less cheap: Another full Puffin crossing.
3) Least cheap: pedestrian underpass as at top of A38 by Patchway common.
Alternatively, as someone else said, remove this crossing altogether and replace with railings to direct pedestrians down to the existing Puffin crossing.
Speed cameras in Avon and Somerset have effectively been ‘switched off’ when the contract expired which was some time ago now, so that’s not an option!
It’s pretty bad, people need to stop spreading rumours. It is just hurtful to close family and friends. Just let it rest…
He’s amazing, It was an accident
We Love you Ben
I would say that a further option would be to extend the 30mph speed limit so that the crossing point that was the site of the acccident was in a 30mph zone not a 40mph zone.
The 40mph limit was set at a time before the sports centre and school were built.
The road could remain 40mph once around the bend in the road.
This was a truly terrible accident and regrettably very avoidable. It’s obvious to all what immediate action needs to be taken here, the road should be narrowed down to one lane. The two lanes from the roundabout creates something of a drag strip scenario and I have seen countless instances in which cars in the left lane accelerate to stop a car overtaking them. I’m not saying that is what has happened here, but the layout of the road creates this situation and something should be done about this.
One other point that I make is that people who are calling motorcycles and motorcyclists dangerous are clearly prejudice in their willingness to tar all motorcyclists with the same brush. Riding a motorbike gives one a much greater appreciation of the roads and spotting potential hazards (unfortunately this accident should have been one of them and if the rider is found to be at fault they should rightly face the consequences). Please do not be so quick to lump all bikers together. I have lost count of the amount of times I have waved at cars to slow down on residential streets so it’s fair to say that there are good and bad drivers/riders of all modes of transport.
Finally best wishes to the injured child, as a parent myself I feel truly sickened by what has happened.
Great turn out at meeting tonight to discuss setting up a petition for a safer crossing ! look out for link to e petition or paper signing various locations news to follow! we all share the same concerns, time now for action to prevent this happening again!
I am pleased to say there was an amazing response to the meeting called tonight to make a petition to the council to improve the safety on Bradley Stoke Way. Thank you everyone who came.
It was decided at the meeting that we will petition the council to do the following:
Reduce the speed limit on Bradley Stoke Way to 30 miles per hour.
Put a proper raised (toucan) crossing between tesco and the the nature reserve.
Reduce all of Bradley Stoke Way to single lanes
Hopefully we will have a page on this site soon to keep people informed of how the petition is going. On the 15th October we will be raising awareness of the petition at the Willow Brook Centre from 12pm onwards so anyone wanted to sign or support us please come down. The petition can be signed in the traditional paper way or on an epetition, I will put a link for it on here once it is set up.
At 40mph the stopping distance for a car in dry conditions is approx 40m, whilst for a motorbike it is approx 20m.
At 30mph the stopping distance for a car in dry conditions is approx 25m, whilst for a motorbike it is approx 12m.
It is clear that any reduction in speed will help.
Any attempt to reduce the speed limit without enforcing it is meaningless. The best approach would be for SGC to introduce a sharp curve in the road as the road drops from two to one lanes to force drivers to drop to 20mph at this point.
Ppl are ok to judge but don’t no the true facts around what happened to cause this tragic accident and should really pass comment it’s all ifs & buts and how & why but some of you are forgetting poor Ben who’s seriously hurt and his mum and dad at this time,just show them the respect they deserve & pray for poor Ben
Alex ( mckenzie & charlies mum) x
Does it matter who’s fault it is?
The fact is someones young life is in great danger,please just stop and think how this has and will continue to effect his family and friends.Supporting them and others is the best thing we can do.
I just want to respond to those of you who think people should only cross at crossing at leisure centre. I have measured the distance between the woods crossing and the leisure centre one and it is around 250metres, meaning that if people were only allowed to cross there a person crossing from the cut through at Wheatfield to the nature reserve would have an extra 500 metres to walk. Hardly encouraging use of nature reserve or travel by foot around the town.
We need a proper crossing with lights (toucan) between the woods and the cut through at Wheatfield.
If one is travelling by foot surely an extra 500 yrds would be looked upon as great exercise ? Can’t see road engineers placing another set of lights 250 metres from an existing set, maybe folk should look at the Danish model where all road signs are removed forcing people to be more aware of their surroundings. When this has been done the accident rate reduces dramatically.
Why don’t they just put speed bumps on the road
This is tragic but to be honest is something I can see happening in Wheatfield Drive itself. There are often children who “play” out in the road – and to be honest the speed that some residents/visitors alike drive around the road with their children in the car with them on occassions it’s another accident waiting for happen!
Caution all around wouldn’t go amiss along with some good old fashioned road safety rules being applied by adults & children alike – no age group can be singled out here in my opinion.
Speedy recovery to those injured.
I feel that everyone is to quick to judge what happened on the day of the accident. There are no clear facts as to what has happened yet. I feel for the small boy who is in hospital and also or his family. However I do feel for the motorcyclist that was involoed to. He must be feeling devasated about the event. There is always to sides to a story and there is alway the truth. My thought are with both family’s and hope that the young boy makes a full speedy recovery. Let’s hope the council do something about the lack of safety there is on that road.
they shouldnt have built bradley stoke in the 1st place should of left it, we use to enjoy our walk to the woods, now we have a dangerous road, where children walk out when the green man is showing, cars going though the red lights, people are allways rushing around, i saw my best friend get killed in gypsy patch where that lad got killed on the lights, but there were no lights then, so traffic lights wouldnt do, just plant grass on the road, so it will not be a road no more, and we could walk every where,
The road will be even worse from 2015 with the Rapid Transport System, Bradley Stoke Way will then have 2 bus lanes either side with 2 lanes for traffic…so 4 lanes to cross over….very bright idea…not!
“At 40mph the stopping distance for a car in dry conditions is approx 40m, whilst for a motorbike it is approx 20m.
At 30mph the stopping distance for a car in dry conditions is approx 25m, whilst for a motorbike it is approx 12m.
It is clear that any reduction in speed will help.
Any attempt to reduce the speed limit without enforcing it is meaningless. The best approach would be for SGC to introduce a sharp curve in the road as the road drops from two to one lanes to force drivers to drop to 20mph at this point.”
I can assure you I don’t drive a morris minor and my car most certainly does not take 40m to stop at 40mph. If it did I’d be taking it back to whoever fitted the brakes and demanding a refund.
Whilst on the subject, if you travelled at 20mph you’d take even less time to stop… in fact why not cut the limit to 10mph, or maybe even 5mph? Sorted.
It’s the main road through Bradley Stoke, a 30mph limit with speed bumps? Yes what a brilliant idea. Why not chuck a bus lane in there as well…
Clearly what is needed is a proper crossing, a bridge would obviously be the best idea as it would not hinder traffic flow and would be much safer. Whether the council want to fork out for one is a different matter…
Stopping distances contain two components, thinking and braking distance. The acceptepd figures used for a car in dry conditions are (src http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_188029.pdf)
30mph – 9 + 14 = 23m
40mph – 12 + 24 = 36m
Morris minor or not, these are the accepted figures.
We still have no word on whose fault it was so any rumours flying around are just that, rumours. Ben crossed at what the majority of people thought was a safe crossing, pavement lowered with a central reservation. Like many, crossing there wouldnt of made him feel at danger because there would be no need to have the reservation or lowered pavement if it was known as a danger zone and somewhere people shouldn’t cross. So no, he didn’t stand there weighing up the odds of which crossing could get him seriously injured. It was a tragic accident and unfortunatly Ben is now is a terrible way because of it. Until the facts have come out speculation should stop and yes, the careless comments that say ‘well he should have crossed at one of the other crossings’ is hurtful and frustrating to the family.
But to those who have been supportive and doing things to help out the family as well others who have been affected, thank you very much, its greatly appreciated.
A meeting attended by around 25 concerned residents in Wheatfield Drive on Monday evening agreed to raise a petition to South Gloucestershire Council calling for a new light-controlled crossing and other safety measures in the vicinity of Friday’s accident on Bradley Stoke Way.
The meeting also heard that a protest march is to be held on Saturday 15th October.
Full details of the petition and march will appear in The Journal shortly, as soon as we have confirmation from the organisers.
First, and most importantly I wish Ben all the best and a speedy recovery.
Secondly, I cannot see the Council “Forking out” money to do any of the suggestions above. We are talking about a council that is more concerned about the appearance of a perfectly functional bus shelter being “updated” to fit in with others (What is this, Interior Designs Bradley Stoke Council Style?). I have also read that members of the council were rewarded for promoting the Council… Well they have failed with epic proportions! Most people are unaware of a “Bradley Stoke Town Council”, “Town Mayor” and “Council Logo” etc. I have asked people I live near, well. The tree and house logo, one thought it was a relic from one of the many builders that built the houses on Bradley Stoke, says a lot really and they wonder why not many people turn up for consultations about lighting and other issues. If the council want to save money I have a suggestion, cut the size of the preposterous “Newsletter” from a massive booklet to about A5. Let’s face it; the only interesting “material” had to be the firework advert at the back (have no idea why this had to be printed in the Bradley Stoke Matters as well, let’s hope it was cheap or free to print, when the advert in the Newsletter was twice the size) and the message from the elusive Mayor. It’s about time this council started being more open, for instance why not have all public council meetings posted to YouTube? As we live in a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy not a communist state I cannot see why this cannot happen. After all, most of our residents work so cannot attend…
Conjecture over what did or didnt happen isn’t really useful nor is trading braking distance numbers or suggesting blame on one part or another. We have two injured youngsters that need our thoughts and support. Since I don’t know either of them, i figure the best way I can help is to support any actions that we can take as a community to make sure our youngsters are kept safe and we dont have any such further accidents. There are experts out there that know best what would need to be done to make the road safe, so I support the petition and march to lobby the council to look into it.
Thoughts go out to those hurt in the accident and their families.
A heartfelt plea to the EDITOR(Bradley Stoke journal) regarding this discussion thread. Please, please STOP this discussion now or at the very least filter out the negative comments for the sake of the traumatised families. Thank you.
@Julie, We are actively filtering all comments and a number have been rejected on grounds of disclosure of personal information, insensitivity or potential contempt of court. Please contact us if there’s any specific comment that concerns you.
I think there are alot of comments on this site as people are genuinely outraged/concerned that this has happened to children in our community.
By children I dont just mean last Friday but the previous accidents as well.
I for one would not want another child/family/motorist/friends etc effected by something like this again and I will support measures to try and make this road safer and people more aware of it, both pedestrations and motorists.
Not knowing the families concerned I feel that moving forward regarding the road is the best way that I could actively do something.
Update from BSCS headteacher Dave Baker in the school newsletter on Friday 7th October:
“I am sorry to report that Ben Thompson in year 9 is still very ill in hospital after last Friday’s accident on Bradley Stoke Way in which he was run over by a motorbike. He is still in a coma and medical staff are very concerned that he may have suffered brain damage. Please continue to hold Ben and his family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Just to let everyone know, the petition for a “Safer Bradley Stoke Way” will be launched this Saturday 15th 12pm at the Willowbrook Centre. We are looking for as many volunteers as possible to collect signatures. Our hope is that there will be enough people to knock on every door in Bradley Stoke. Anyone interested in supporting this by either signing or collecting signatures please join us. Our target is 2500 signatures which would mean a full council meeting would have to be held to discuss our proposals.
There will also be an e-petition (details to follow shortly).
I’ve been following this thread with interest.
I really do hope young Ben makes a full and speedy recovery, and my heart goes out to him and his family, but at the same time, I feel for the motorcyclist who is also injured in this accident.
I do not know the circumstances surrounding this incident, I wasn’t there, I didn’t witness it, but what I do know is that I am appalled at the way the motorcyclist has already been hung, drawn and quartered for this.
If he was speeding, and driving dangerously, then yes, he should feel the full weight of the law – but I would strongly suspect pain from his conscience would far outweigh any punishment meted out by the law and feel it is unfair of some of the comments here to blame him and assume he was speeding until we have the accident investigation team result. Can we at least wait until then before we cast the stones?
I say this as a pedestrian, a driver, a cyclist and someone who has a view over a main road – every day I see circumstances which could easily turn catastrophic – motorists speeding, children lurching unexpectedly into the road, adult cyclists weaving between cars – and that’s near the junction with Tesco, so until we know the actual facts surrounding this, we should not assume the motorist is to blame.
If it turns out the motorcyclist was in the wrong here, I will be the first to say I was wrong, I’m sorry, – question is, if it turns out the motorcyclist was going at 30-40mph, within the legal limit – would you?
Regardless of blame the fact is that if a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle at 40mph they will be more likely to be killed.
Hit by a car at 40mph 9 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed.
Hit by a car at 30mph about half of pedestrians will live.
(source RoSPA “Helping Drivers not to Speed Policy Paper”)
I feel that the speed limit should be reduced to 30mph at this accident blackspot. It would add very little to journey times.
Seeing the aftermath of this accident with both the injured parties lying hurt on the road was nauseating.
I can’t get to the Willow Brook Centre on saturday but I wouldn’t mind helping trying to collect some signatures if the editor passes my email address on to Bradley Stoke lady resident.
The petition to ‘improve road safety measures on Bradley Stoke Way’ is now live. If you live, work or just visit the area then PLEASE sign this petition so we can prevent any further injuries on this road. Here’s the link:
https://petitions.southglos.gov.uk/consult.ti/system/listPetitions
This thread is now CLOSED. Thank you all for the tremendous response. With the online petition now live, it’s time to focus our efforts on campaigning for better road safety in Bradley Stoke. Discussion of potential road safety improvements continues here:
Headteacher seeks urgent review of road safety measures