Council condemns drivers breaching Lowestoft bridge safety lights
"I'm surprised it is so high," he said. "It's irresponsible driving. The majority of people are law abiding and are very sensible, but a very tiny minority are trying to jump the red lights and it only puts themselves and others in danger."Obviously one or two people always try these things, but we need to get across the message that the barrier and the red lights are there for a reason - to protect all road users. People need to adhere to that even if they're in a hurry."They need to stop at the red light, that's the safe thing to do."
West added that taxpayers have to bear the cost of repairing any damage to the barrier.Staff began recording breaches after they noticed more happening.On one occasion a van raced through and collided with the barrier, leaving it inoperable until it was repaired.The council was pursuing a claim for the costs, but West said this would not be possible to do in every case. The authority was also considering putting ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras in place."It isn't something we're ruling out, we're looking at that seriously because we've got to get those numbers of people jumping the red light down," West added.The bridge opened in September and is the third crossing over Lake Lothing.
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