‘There will be a serious accident’ - calls for country lane speed limit change

The Street in Rushmere near Lowestoft currently has a national speed limit of 60mph. Credit: Google Maps (Image: Archant)

The Street, located in Rushmere near Lowestoft, has a national speed limit in place of 60mph, despite other roads in the area having a speed limit of 30mph.

Over the past few years, residents have experienced all types of vehicles speeding such as cars, vans, lorries, buses, coaches and tractors.

They now want to see the speed limit reduced from 60mph to 30mph.

One resident Ann Bluemel said: “It’s absolute chaos. We have to put up with tooting, beeping and congestion especially when vehicles are diverted through our small road if there has been an accident on the A12 in Kessingland.

Ann Bluemel has lived by the road since 1977 and has now had enough of speeding traffic. Credit: Submitted (Image: Archant)

“The tractors that use the road are getting larger and they bring down the bushes on the side of the road making the road even narrower.

“Some of the tractors that come down this road look like a bat out of hell they go so fast.

“It’s frightening, my heart is in my mouth when I see the speeding.”

The speeding resulted in one traumatic experience that happened on the road recently.

A young girl was knocked off of her horse by a speeding van.

She did not suffer serious injuries but her horse had to be put down and now she will never get back on a horse.

Another resident Kevin Boardman said: “It’s madness what is going on, it’s terrifying when vehicles drive 60 or 65mph down this road. We have children who live on this road.

“We’ve tried for years to get the parish council and county council to change the speed limit but to no avail.

“At some point there will be a serious accident on this road if action is not taken.”

A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said discussions will start with police and the local county councillor about the concerns raised by residents.

They added: “It would appear from police records that there have been no injury collisions on The Street in the past five years.

“As the Highways Authority we follow the government’s policy in regard to speed limits for roads in our county.

“Generally, 60mph roads have no facilities such as shops, schools, and only limited development whereas 30mph roads usually have a clear village character with 20 or more houses or key buildings such as a church, shop, or school.”