Biker Notice

The Newton road between Torquay and Newton Abbot is a two lane, single carriageway, 40 mph road. It is one of the busiest roads in the South West. Just about everyone agrees that we need a bypass round Kingskerswell, shown in the picture. Even David Cameron, that well known cyclist and also believed by some to be boss of the Tory party thinks we should have a bypass. The Department for Transport agree we should have a bypass but every time we ask for the money, they ask us to do a traffic count as the last one we did is now two years out of date. So the traffic count is done at great cost to the local councils and the send the figures sent off to the Department for Transport who also agree we need a bypass but unfortunate there isn't any money available, please ring back in a year or two. When we do they say yes but your last traffic count is now out of date, could you do an other one. The process then gets repeated every two years. The money we have spent so far on traffic counts would have paid for half the bypass.

Anyway the only way to go fast on this road is to believe that 5 mph is fast or buy a motor bike. Some of those who have chosen the latter now believe that doing 80 mph on blind bends 3 feet over the double white lines while overtaking a line of vehicles is the fast track to immortality. If having a bunch of flowers tied to a lamp post at the site of your accident is immortality than go for it. In order to be seen to be doing something about this problem the local council (Devon C.C. I think) have erected this and similar notices along the road. What the notices should say is, "Bikers, Please be aware that there are car drivers ahead who have been stuck on this road for hours and might suddenly decide to open their car doors and get out and have a picnic to pass the time. So watch out." or, "Bikers, There is an other idiot just like you coming the other way 3 feet over the double white line overtaking a line of slow moving vehicles, travelling at 60 mph and he just may be driving a bus. So watch out."