A TAVISTOCK man has expressed serious concern about the issue of speeding through his estate and is calling upon all local authorities to address the issue before a fatal accident occurs.

Graham Voisey, a resident of Buzzard Road, has noted an increase in speeding through the Tiddybrook Meadows estate since it was opened up to connect the A386 with Anderton Lane and believes the problem is now worse than ever, having observed cars racing down the road at over 40 or 50mph, which is also used as a route for buses and HGVs.

As a result of vehicles speeding down the road, bollards which line the road on both sides are frequently knocked down or ripped out of their foundations when cars crash into them, with more severe accidents having also occurred, the most recent of which saw a car overturn on Anderton Lane on February 25. This incident was a single vehicle RTC which saw all emergency services in attendance. Police have confirmed that the female driver received an arm injury and was cut out of the vehicle by fire crews and then taken to hospital for treatment.

In addition to bollards being knocked down, and in some instances never reinserted or replaced, it is not uncommon for parked cars to be scratched or have their wing mirrors smashed off - with this having happened to Graham’s partner’s car which was parked on Buzzard Road in the last week.

Graham said: ‘People come off the A386, a 60 mph road, and swing round into the estate at 40 or 50mph - they treat it like a ratrun. It’s chaos. Other times 40 tonne trucks come through and 20 tonne double decker buses throughout the day. It’s getting worse. It’s like a lunatic asylum.’

‘One bollard has been down six times, with many others regularly smashed out because someone has swung round the corner too fast. I’d estimate the average speed is at least 35mph, often 40mph now. The highest speed I’ve seen is 50mph. Cars are mounting pavements at speed to get round those coming in the opposite direction because they have right of way. People use them as a swing off point too because they’re failing to stop in time when facing oncoming cars.

‘Children are out playing in the street, on pushbikes and scooters, especially with lighter evenings now. People don’t realise it’s a residential estate on a national cycling route — they treat this like a main road. It won’t be until someone is killed that something happens - action is always taken when it’s too late. Unless a stop is put to it, it won’t carry on but just get worse and worse.’

Graham would like to see an enforced 20mph zone throughout Buzzard Road, reflective tape placed around bollards to enhance their visibility at night and speed bumps introduced.

Debo Sellis, County Councillor for Tavistock and Gulworthy, said: ’Speeding in this area has been looked into a few times now and I know this is particularly irksome for residents. The design of the estate was voted for in 2005 before I was a councillor; this problem has been inherited from a decision made by a planning authority. There was never adequate car parking provision in the design and there are 1.4 cars per property.

‘It’s so unfortunate that this was not kept as a close. I asked the authorities not to open it up but it was decided it would be a green corridor and a bus route. I will speak with Highways officers, police and local residents again and look into this and get more speed checks done as I have sympathy and understand the gorwing concern, however, you will always have some people tearing into this estate and driving irresponsibly.’

PC Wayne Thielmann of West Devon Police said: ‘As a neighbourhood team we have not received any complaints of speeding vehicles along Buzzard Road but that is not to say some vehicles may appear to be going faster than is deemed appropriate. If we do receive complaints we will deal with it in an appropriate way. The neighbourhood team frequently receives complaints of vehicles traveling in excess of the speed limit and we carry out speed enforcement in areas where concerns are raised. What tends to happen is that results show that the problem is not as bad as what local residents perceive. Drivers breaking the speed limit are dealt with through education or the issuing of a fine, however, the majority comply with the designated speed limit.’