The A4 is a key trunk road, That's why it's 40mph. None of the schools are actually on the road but nearby schools are a long list.Slow the traffic down and the volume of pollution goes up. You can avoid a vehicle by your own common sense and caution but you can't avoid a lungful of polluted air. If you look at the amount of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists, it's quite low per mile of road and volume of traffic. Schoolchildren figure even lower. Most children are fresh in kerb drill & often have a lot more common sense and tend to enthusiastically practice what they are preached as long as that enthusiasm is conveyed to them.The Police used to do a fantastic job of teaching kerb drill and road safety in schools, money very well spent. But parents also need educating. The antics of some mums (and dads) with pushchairs and small children beggars belief in their stupidity and that cannot be factored into any road scheme. Education by means of all medias can be thorough. It's a cheap and effective option when compared to the price of a life.Most of the nasty fatal incidents are the result of illegal actions of road usersdrink, drugs,criminality and irresponsible or illegal drivers.The lack of Traffic Police and the reliance of monitoring and fining of minor road offences which make £££s does not deal with the hatful of serial road abusers who often need no more than a stern talking to by an officer to tame them.Then there are non motorists, like cyclists and pedestrians who ignore the highway code and common sense and put themselves into danger.(One of the reasons with cyclists using the A4 is them not using the cycle paths because of the debris and obstructions on it. This could be solved in a day.)The A4 though, could be very much safer for all road users within a very short time and without huge expensive remodelling - which should be the ultimate objective.The lighting under the M4 flyover is truly appalling and has been for decades. Half of it does not work and has not for at least 12 years now.The question is why has absolutely nothing been done despite years of people highlighting the problems?The signage and reminders of road users etiquette is very poor and opportunities for simple improvements when space was available, scuppered due to political policies of the day overruling common sense.Even reminders for all road users to signal clearly at junctions would help. Stand at South Ealing road Junction for just a few mins and see just how few actually signal. About 1 in 10.That's down to poor driving standards, and again traffic police having a quiet word of advice to those who fail to operate their vehicle properly goes a long way. It used to happen but never happens now.Maybe we should have a dedicated A4 /A30 /A406 Traffic Enforcement like they have on Motorways but with powers to stop & issue fines or notices for careless driving and cycling. Or a proper Highway patrol.
Raymond Havelock ● 3722d