A speed camera has been set alight on a main road through a west Dorset village at the centre of a row over heavy traffic congestion. Fire crews were called to the A35 in Chideock, near Bridport, in the early hours after several calls from drivers. A tyre had been put over the speed camera and set alight.
Several villagers have held protests over the amount of vehicles on the road, and were recently given hand-held speed cameras to monitor traffic. The A35 through Chideock can be "like a motorway" some villagers say.
Protests suspended
The move followed meetings with police and the Highways Agency in July. The villagers have since suspended their protests, which involved repeatedly activating a pelican crossing on the road to hold up traffic.
They want a bypass to be built so heavy lorries can be diverted. Many of the protesters are incomers and moved to Chideock without considering that it is on a major trunk road.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-10979467
Good – those traffic cameras really upset the flow of traffic, it only takes one car to brake and trickle through the westerly camera at 22mph for a 2 mile tailback to occur. Get rid of the cameras and crossing and mebbe build an underpass.
I agree. I wouldn’t ever condone vandalism, but as someone who drives through Chideock on a daily basis the cameras do my head in!! It would be fine if everyone drove at 30mph but there’s always someone who insists on crawling by the cameras at 15mph. Huge tailbacks ensue!!! I’m quite sure that without the cameras, most motorist would still travel through the village at a sensible speed and would be more focussed on the road than on their speedo’s (speedometers rather than skimpy swimwear!) Haven’t yet had the ?pleasure of meeting any of the button pressing nutcases at the crossing, but I do assume that the A35 was there when they moved to Chideock??
The “”press the button protest”” is going to start again, why? to annoy road users by holding them up? To increase exhaust emissions in Chideock? …? This protest encourages nothing but animosity towards the participating button pushers.