Dear Ms Brocklehurst

RE: Regulation 28 Report, Kyle James Goater, Moor Road Ilkley.

Thank you for your Regulation 28 Report concerning the death of Kyle James Goater on Moor Road, Ilkley.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing this response. Unfortunately this is resulting from time incurred identifying land ownership, job vacancies and changes in personnel.

First of all, the Council would like to offer condolences to the family and friends of Mr Goater.

I am able to inform you of the action taken to date by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in its capacity as Local Highway Authority.

The land bordering the carriageway is privately owned, therefore not part of the adopted highway network maintainable at public expense or under the control of the Council in any capacity. The informal ‘layby’ which has been created and within which the broken-down vehicle was parked is wholly within this private land. The layby was not created by the Council.

Following careful consideration of the circumstances of this collision, the Council has installed a series of bollards on the edge of the carriageway (highway extent) to prevent access to the informal layby so that it can no longer be used by drivers. In addition, the intermittent white line associated with an access which spanned the informal layby has been removed by extending the edge of carriageway road marking across it, thus forming a continuous line and representative of a continuous section of highway. Furthermore, a Hidden Dip warning sign informing drivers of the prevailing hazard has been ordered and will be installed at the very earliest opportunity.

The sign has been arranged to be installed in November and the lining will form part of the area programme, the dates of which have yet to be confirmed. However, the presence of the bollards delivers the necessary safety benefit in preventing use of the lay-by, with the lining being a supplementary measure.

Finally, following an experimental reduction in the speed limit on Moor Road from 60mph to 30mph, a review has been undertaken on its impact on driver behaviour, road safety, and traffic flow. The review highlighted several issues, most notably the potential occurrence of injudicious overtaking by frustrated drivers who find 30mph to be excessively slow for the road conditions.

Consultation on the proposed speed limit is to commence this month (October 2024) with formal advertising in November followed by the sealing of the order in December, subject to no objections. Should there be objections, these will be dealt with through the Council’s usual governance procedure. This could delay implementation by 4 – 8 weeks, if the objections are not upheld.

It is our assessment that a speed limit of 40mph would achieve a more appropriate balance between ensuring safety and maintaining a reasonable flow of traffic. A 40mph limit aligns more closely with driver expectations for this type of road and is likely to attain greater compliance and in turn, reduced driver frustration and the potential for dangerous overtaking manoeuvres. It should also result in a smoother traffic flow and restore an appropriate level of travel efficiency yet maintaining safety standards significantly higher than those observed under the original 60mph National Speed Limit.

It is considered that these measures will collectively act to prevent such an incident from occurring at this location in the future as well as achieving wider route safety improvements.

I trust this work is seen as appropriate and a satisfactory level of intervention.