This is the limit.

After a bit of digging and reading up on the Road Code etc, I've just realised that the speed limit on the sliproad, coming off a 70MPH dual carriageway, is - er - 70MPH. It doesn't change to 60MPH until the commencement of the single carriageway where the 'NO ENTRY' is painted on the road.

Let's revisit that one: SEVENTY. MILES. PER. HOUR.

Around this corner:

That's about 40 metres visibility. At 70MPH a driver will travel forward 31 meters in the one second it takes them to realise there's a car/truck/tractor/cyclist/family in the intersection. That's the one second it takes the average brain to work out the road isn't clear ahead and something needs doing. By the time their foot lifts off the accelerator and starts to come down on the brake, they will have covered the remaining 9m. So the actual impact speed will be 70MPH. No braking at all. (If you think you're a good driver and could avoid this, think again: a top jet fighter pilot might manage 0.5 seconds reaction time. Apparently a top F1 driver could get to 0.4 at the peak of their career. But you aren't in an F1 car and even one of those couldn't stop in time).

The dry-weather, flat surface Sight Stopping Distance, based on the DfT guidelines, from 70MPH is 247m. As you can see, there's a bit of a downhill slope. Let's call it 3 degrees. That distance is now 272m. Let's add a bit of rain (because it does rain, you know): 290m. Nearly three football pitches.

There have already been collisions here in the last few years. It is only a matter of time before someone who:

a) Doesn't know the road
b) Is an idiot
c) Is in a huge hurry (and is also an idiot)

will try to take the corner at or close to the legal limit. Even at 50, or 40MPH - all these distances will exceed the accepted minimum Stopping Sight Distance...

....just as a family or individual, in a car or on a bike, turns right...seeing how the road is clear.

Or as a resident of Tufton, or Longparish, or Hurstbourne Priors turns left out of the lane, on their way south to the A34. Not forgetting the fact that there is also a bus stop under the A34 (Buses tend not to be too fussed about cars running into them at 50MPH, but the car drivers probably won't appreciate it).

The bottom line is this intersection and the sliproad feeding it at a legal 70MPH is a Highways Authority and Hampshire County Council-sanctioned deathtrap. I have informed (text below) Tom Thacker, the Hampshire County Councillor for the ward, as well as Sir George Young, MP for the ward, also Ken Thornber leader of HCC and the council minister for transport, Mel Kendal, along with our Borough and Town councillors, in the hope that some executive oversight might get things into the fast lane, so to speak. Of course we have yet to hear back from the Highway Authority contractor for the area, but it's probably better to have our elected representatives in the loop sooner rather than later.

I've spoken with some former Hampshire Police advanced driving instructors and road crash investigators, with many, many decades of experience dealing with the consequences of poor judgement and poor road design. They all warned not to expect fast progress, or indeed any progress at all given the government funding cuts and the political desire not to be seen to be waging a 'war on the motorist'. Ironically it is motorists most likely to end up dead or maimed because of this intersection layout.

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Dear Sir George, Councillors,

I'd like to bring your attention to the issue of speed on the A34 sliproad heading into Whitchurch from the south. The current limit is 70MPH off the A34 dual carriageway, then down to 60 where Winchester road begins and the Highways Authority jurisdiction ends.

Both speeds are patently, ridiculously high for this slip road, given its sharp bends and the location of an intersection around a blind corner. It is also frequently used by cyclists and pedestrians, and has a bus stop in the roadway. It is the textbook 'crash waiting to happen'. I would not call any crash, injury or loss of life here an 'accident', as deliberate choices have been made by HCC and the Highways Authority regarding the design and regulation of this intersection that clearly put people in harm's way.

For the last few months I have been engaging with HCC and now the Highways Authority on this matter, and wanted to alert you to the public record I'm keeping of progress: http://tuftonordeath.blogspot.co.uk/

You can click over on the right to see the archive of posts, starting from the bottom up with pictures and diagrams of the various issues this location faces - speed, ill-placed signs, footpaths (or lack thereof)...

As noted I am engaged with both HCC and the HA contractor, and have had many messages of support from Whitchurch and Tufton locals who use this intersection.

I will be sure to keep you appraised of progress or lack thereof.

Kind regards

Mike