Exeter protestors to become 'human bollards'

The bus gate on Ladysmith Road, Exeter during the Heavitree & Whipton Active Streets Trial

A group of Exeter residents will become ‘human bollards’ to protest against those flouting the rules of the LTN trial in Heavitree and Whipton. The protestors claim that some motorists have continued to drive through the bus gates in unauthorised vehicles.

Next week, the protestors will gather at the bus gate on Ladysmith Road and block all unauthorised vehicles from driving through. There are two bus gates, with the other on Whipton Lane, which are only meant to be used by buses, emergency vehicles, some local authority vehicles, and more recently, taxis.

But the protest group, known as Safe Streets Now Exeter, claim “many drivers are ignoring the trial” and making the road more dangerous, particularly for local schoolchildren. Ladysmith School has already sent letters to parents, in which they urged parents to drive more carefully around the school and the bus gate after a child was narrowly missed by a reversing car and, in a separate incident on the same day, another child was knocked off their bike.

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Safe Streets Now Exeter claim that a cyclist mum and baby were also hit by a car due to drivers ignoring the LTN restrictions recently. They are now calling on Devon County Council and Devon & Cornwall Police to crack down on rulebreakers, supported by national campaign group Safe Streets Now which aims to minimise road deaths and injuries.

Spokesperson for the Exeter group, Caspar Hughes, said: “It is clear that many drivers are ignoring the trial, which is intended to help improve the safety of people walking and cycling. Consequently they are making the road far more dangerous, particularly for children, when they are arriving and leaving before and after the school day.

“We have seen far too little action from the authorities, who appear to be blaming each other for the failure to enforce the bus gates. Our demand is that Devon and Cornwall Police work with Devon County Council to provide the resources to police the bus gates, using video evidence and random but frequent patrols. Parking attendants could also help by patrolling parking violations outside schools at peak times.”

The first protest will take place from 7:30am to 9:30am on Monday, February 19, when campaigners will stand between the planters at the Ladysmith Road bus gate and display a ‘Safe Streets Now’ banner. They say they will move to allow permitted vehicles through.

They are also calling for the Heavitree & Whipton Active Streets Trial to be continued in full after attempts to have it scrapped. Last month, a report to Devon County Council’s Exeter Highway and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC) suggested it wasn’t meeting all of its targets and should be scrapped.

While thousands have signed petitions against the LTN, it was ruled that the trial should continue as HATOC said they needed more information before making a final decision.