COUNCILLORS ignoring police and county council advice is not a good idea. (LT, January 18) particularly when road safety issues are involved.

The speed limit on the A679 Burnley Road through Hapton has long been a thorn in the side of the local parish council.

They have now decided to lower it from 40 to 30mph, meaning that traffic will slow down from 60, outside the village to 30mph which is against all expert advice.

I am a Speed Awareness Driving Instructor and in the last four years I have taken over 100 qualified drivers along this road. The purpose being to get them to spot speed limit changes. Nearly all of them miss the change, from 60 to 40 mph.

Only after some 35 minutes of instruction using good forward observation do they see the change and they are then able to slow down over a safe distance to achieve the new speed.

The speed limit signs on this road are difficult to see because in both directions they are placed around bends and unless you are looking for them they are easily missed. Therefore with the one change from 60 to 30 mph, problems with speeding drivers will still occur.

The police and county engineers are therefore correct to advise staggered speeds from 60 to 40 and then to 30 mph.

This technique creates more time for drivers to slow over a greater distance which helps to compensate for their reduced observation skills.

Sadly, the Hapton councillors won't appreciate this, only experts in the field of road safety will, so isn't it correct to say that they should follow the free advice?

They will still get their 30 mph limit and in a much safer environment.

PETER SHAW ADI, Whalley Road, Great Harwood.