Road clear for more flashing speed alerts

COUNCILLORS have approved plans to install more electronic signs that tell speeding drivers to slow down.

The signs are activated by cars breaking the speed limit, which causes them to flash a message urging drivers to put on the brakes.

Six of the £5000 signs are already in place at accident blackspots, and the city council is now set to double this number over the coming year.

Another 13 signs are also already in use at the police's mobile speed camera sites.

A study of 50 new sites will be carried out by the council to create a priority list, and the scheme could be rolled out again in later years.

The warnings are likely to appear on roads with a 30mph limit, particularly where speed bumps are impractical.

Research shows that a driver is twice as likely to kill someone when driving at 35mph than at 30mph.

A sign was installed at Muirhouse Parkway in March last year, and the number of speeding drivers has dropped by more than ten per cent since then.

Meanwhile, a warning sign on Lanark Road West led to a 5.8 per cent fall.