21 January (Part 4) - Twice as big means twice the money
You can’t say you weren’t warned, Bexley Council
announced
last October that they aimed to raise more money by installing nine more camera monitored driver traps.
One of them has just appeared at the top of Knee Hill, no enforcement cameras yet as far as I can see.
To be fair it occupies a place where no motorist with any sense stops anyway
because if someone approaching from the north and wanting to turn right into the
small housing estate finds his way blocked, the tail back can stretch beyond the traffic lights.
However this is Bexley, a dishonest Council looking for money so the yellow box
is about eight feet longer than it needs to be to do its job. Look at Photo 3
and the kerb to the left. No one turning into the flats needs that space. Much
the same could be said of the far end of the box too although to be fair again, making
it a more reasonable length would be unlikely to accommodate an extra vehicle.
On second thoughts the box is doing its job, I had almost forgotten that the
priority is to milk drivers for as much money as possible.
Perhaps it is worth reminding readers that the responsible Cabinet Member has
frequently been heard to say he thinks motorists are unfairly penalised. Forked tongues must run in the family.
Maybe it would be better for those living along Abbey Road to use New Road
in future. Now that the 469 bus isn't going to use it yet it shouldn’t be too busy and it avoids
the dangerous pinch point that Bexley Council has designed into Knee Hill.