AN INCENSED motorist has launched a campaign to get fines issued for speeding on the Peaks Parkway overturned.
John Simpson, 73, of Cleethorpes, has set up a website – www.peaksparkwaycashcow.co.uk– appealing for donations towards a fighting fund aimed at challenging the validity of all tickets handed out since speed cameras were activated on the 30mph section of the road last October.
It comes as a proposed increase in the speed limit to 40mph moved a step closer, following the decision by North East Lincolnshire Council's cabinet to refer the matter to September's full council meeting.
As previously reported, a cabinet working group – set up after 1,882 people signed a petition calling for the speed limit to be increased – recommended raising the limit to 40mph on the stretch of the A16 between the traffic lights at B&Q and the 50mph buffer zone south of the junction with Weelsby Road.
Countless motorists have been stung by fines for breaking the 30mph limit – with many complaining that it is totally inappropriate for that stretch of road.
However, the move is being opposed by Humberside Police, who say that the number of call-outs to collisions on the Peaks Parkway had reduced since enforcement of the 30mph limit began.
Mr Smith, who was caught driving at 35mph at 8.20am one morning, said: "I want to make the case that I believe this speed limit has been invalid from the outset and that anyone who has been fined should get a refund.
"In my opinion, the speed should never have been set at 30mph in the first place and there is a feeling that this was done to collect cash.
"It confounds me as to how a 30mph limit can apply where there are no pedestrians, no housing and where there is a crash barrier and a 5ft wall.
"The feel of that road is not 30mph. You find yourself drifting over the speed limit and I don't have that problem on any other road.
"There are quite a lot of people who are incensed by this and I want to look at setting up a fund to hire a barrister so we can right this injustice."
Councillor David Watson, portfolio holder for environment and housing, reminded motorists that the 30mph limit remains in force for now.
He said: "Increasing a speed limit is a lengthy and complex process and this is largely down to the national legislation that governs such changes.
"This was never going to be a decision where we would click our fingers and the speed limit would change overnight, but the process is necessary to make sure that everyone has a chance to air their views and ultimately for the right decision to be made."
A timetable for the implementation of the proposed speed limit change will be presented when the report is put to full council.
'No reasonable grounds' for increasing limit - Humberside Police HUMBERSIDE Police has formally objected to the proposal to raise the speed limit on the Peaks Parkway to 40mph, warning that the risk of serious injuries will be increased as a result. In a letter to North East Lincolnshire Council, traffic management officer PC Darren Storr wrote that there was no evidence to support the raising of the limit on road safety grounds and that there were "no reasonable grounds" for the proposal. He said that the emergency services had reported reduced call-outs to collisions since speed camera enforcement began in October. PC Storr warned that raising the limit to 40mph would risk increasing the number of collisions and result in more serious injuries being sustained due to higher impacts. He added that "clusters" of fatal collisions had occurred at the traffic light junctions due to driver errors and that increasing the speed limit would magnify the consequences of those errors.Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
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