splurged

I meant to write about this a few weeks ago, but there was another horrific accident on the main Liverpool to Southport road where somebody died.

As the main A565 road comes out from Crosby, the speed limit on the single carriageway increases to 50mph (it was 60mph but yes, you've guessed it - a car accident with fatalities meant a speed decrease) through Ince Woods, before the road becomes dual carriageway at the national speed limit of 70mph.

About a mile further on a minor road from Hightown joins the main carriageway from the left towards Southport. This is where the latest death occurred. 86-year old man in brand-new Honda Jazz pulls onto the "motorway" and is hit by an oncoming car. Result is old man is instantly killed.

I'm not trying to demean his poor bloke's passing, but if you're familiar with this particular junction, you won't be surprised at another death at this dangerous hot-spot. and it's likely you've had / or have seen a near miss here. I know I have.

The thing about the "Formby By-Pass" (as it's locally known) is it brings out the worst in drivers, sorry to say me included sometimes. Because when you've been driving the 8 miles from Liverpool all the way through Bootle, Waterloo, Crosby and Thornton encountering traffic lights after traffic lights and all manner of queues, it's a relief to put your foot down for a change.

Unfortunately, it can sometimes have devastating consequences.

There's little point reducing the speed limit because I doubt anyone would take much notice. And a 40 or 50 mph limit would do little to stop another mad accident occurring at this spot.

Traffic lights? Not feasible. The flow of traffic would be severely disrupted. And for a few cars every hour wanting to use the junction, it's just not fair to everybody else.

The best way to deal with this problem is to block the junction off completely, and divert all the traffic from Hightown through the main junction at Ince Blundell. It's best to be safe than splurged.....