Road Safety! 

As many villagers will be aware, there has recently been a further spate of serious accidents at the Royston Lane / Quickset Road junction. This is in spite of the new signage that was installed in 2023.

Originally we asked Essex Highways to install STOP signs on the Royston Road sides of the junction but they decided that this was not warranted and installed the GIVE WAY signs instead. Clearly this has not had the desired effect as drivers are either not seeing the signs in time or are just ignoring them.

Through our County Councillor we have asked Essex Highways to review the safety and signage of this junction. We feel that safety improvements could be achieved by the use of STOP signs on Royston Lane, by installing additional signs further back from the junction, by improving the road markings and fitting rumble strips, or a combination of all of these.

However, Highways have now informed us that according to their records there have only been 2 accidents in the past 3 years therefore this does not warrant any further investigation.

We know that there have been many more accidents but it appears this discrepancy is caused by the way that Highways and the Police record incidents. Apparently if there is no personal injury or there is no need for police attendance, then these accidents do not get recorded. 

To try and get something done about this it looks as though we will have to start keeping our own records to pass on to Highways so could I please ask all residents to notify the Parish Council of ANY accident, no matter how trivial, at this junction. 

There have also been a number of unrecorded accidents at the Royston Lane / Strethall Road junction where the authorities again have no record, so could you please do the same and report any incidents at this junction as well.

Any reports should include as much information as possible, in particular the date, time, number and type of vehicles involved (i.e. car, van, truck, tractor, cycle etc.) and whether the Police or Ambulance service was involved. 

Also please identify which junction you are reporting about.

Please report this information by email to the Parish Clerk, Jane Guy, on rfo.edewlpc@gmail.com 

Your cooperation in this will be beneficial to everyone in the Parish and hopefully we can get something done before someone gets seriously injured.

Bob Woods, Parish Council Chairman 

Posted 21/04/2025