Edinburgh pensioner warns 'someone will be killed' as speeding cars wreak havoc on Stevenson Drive
An Edinburgh pensioner is urging the council to reinstate a speed camera in the Stenhouse area of the city to tackle dangerous driving in the neighbourhood.
James Henderson, who has lived in the area for over 50 years, said reckless driving ‘started almost immediately’ after a speed camera on Stevenson Drive was covered up in early 2023. It is understood the camera was taken out of commission when road resurfacing works were carried out in the area last year.
The 79-year-old said drivers travel at dangerous speeds ‘every day, seven days a week’ with several accidents and one fatality having occurred in the area in the last year. Mr Henderson said he has ‘tried everything’, writing to his local councillors and MP and the council but ‘nothing seems to be getting done about it at all’.
Mr Henderson said: “It's antisocial, law-breaking drivers of all types of vehicles. One of the biggest culprits is a guy who goes up and down every day on a quad bike.
“They're screaming down the road every day, every night, all day long. Now I hate to say this, but somebody else is going to be killed. A kid could be going across to the park and something is going to happen, and there's going to be another fatality. And there should never have even been one.”
On August 26, 2023, a 70-year-old woman died after being struck by a car as she was walking on Stevenson Drive. A 24-year-old man was later charged in connection with road traffic offences.
Mr Henderson said the situation becomes even more dangerous on weekends when traffic is reduced to one lane owing to bus priority measures and said speeding cars frequently drive on the other side of the road to bypass traffic.
He said: “It’s busy at the weekends with cars going to Saughton park, football matches, Murrayfield, places like that and there’s drivers who scream along the opposite side of the road - it’s like the Wacky Races, it's just ridiculous.
“Everyone's exasperated. I attend my local community council meetings and speeding cars on Stevenson Drive comes up at every meeting now, because everyone is now aware of what's happening.”
A spokesperson for the City of Edinburgh Council told the Evening News that decisions to commission, suspend, or remove speed cameras are a matter for the Police Speed Camera Unit.
Michael Grant, east safety camera unit manager at Road Policing said: “As part of our site review process in 2021, it was decided that live operation at this site would be paused due to improved driver behaviour, speed limit compliance and a reduction in injury collisions.
“This meant that this resource could be located at another other site where there is greater need and potential to reduce collisions. A bag was placed on the camera so we could undertake a thorough assessment of the impact of pausing live operation at this site. This will inform whether this site will be reactivated, or steps should be taken to remove all camera technology.”