Terrified locals who fear for the lives of their children say their street has become a dangerous rat run and an ‘unofficial B-road’ because of controversial traffic restrictions.
According to residents in the east London borough of Hackney, children’s lives are being put at risk as a result of the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) as they funnel traffic down their streets.
The fears come after Sadiq Khan‘s LTN scheme was given the green light to expand across the capital in July, despite the programme being blamed for delaying emergency services and causing more traffic.
A spokesman for Hackney Council maintains Hackney is ‘committed to Vision Zero’.
One mother recalled how her young daughter had had a lucky escape recently when a speeding car lost control and smashed into a fence less than a metre away from her child.
Parents and children of Valentine Road and Poole Road in Hackney, East London, who are calling for speed cameras on their roads
Recent crash on junction between Valentine and Poole Road, Hackney. One mother’s young daughter had a lucky escape recently when a speeding car lost control and careered into a fence less than a metre away from her child
Recent crashes on junction between Valentine and Poole Road, Hackney. The fears come after Sadiq Khan ‘s LTN scheme was given the green light to expand across the capital in July
Other crashes have also been reported since nearby LTNs were imposed, with residents saying drivers pick up speed when they get onto their once-quiet residential roads.
LTNs are areas where vehicles cannot travel on certain roads, with the intended result of reducing traffic.
Critics of the zones say they merely re-direct traffic to other roads outside the zones – increasing traffic there and making them more dangerous.
More than 70 per cent of eligible roads in Hackney are now in LTNs, which is more than any other London borough and amounts to half the roads across the borough.
Anna Mojab, a mum-of-two who has been living on Valentine Road for seven years, says the street has become an ‘unofficial B-road’ where drivers avoiding nearby LTNs – such as those in Frampton Park and Homerton – often speed.
The 38-year-old, who works as an art director, now feels the need to speak out after her seven-year-old daughter was nearly killed in an accident on the road a few weeks ago.
More recent crashes on junction between Valentine and Poole Road, Hackney. Critics of the zones say they merely re-direct traffic to other roads outside the zones – increasing traffic there and making them more dangerous
Photo of camera monitoring the restricted LTN area on Lansdowne Drive in Hackney. Now residents on non-LTN roads are calling for speed cameras
‘We were walking to school one morning and had just crossed the junction of Valentine and Poole Road,’ Mrs Mojab said.
‘I had my two daughters with me – the younger in a buggy and the elder walking.
‘A woman let us cross and a guy coming along Valentine Road lost control of his car and swerved around.
‘I saw him in my peripheral vision, speeding towards us.
‘I screamed and he crashed into the [fencing] just in front of my daughter.
‘It was really terrifying. He crashed less than a metre in front of my daughter.
‘Normally she would ride her bike to school and, if she had been, [the car] probably would have killed her.
‘Our car has been written off before. I just don’t feel I can let this go.’
Another witness to the crash confirmed that the young girl would have been killed ‘without a doubt’ if she had been struck, due to the speed the car was travelling.
Though traffic on her road has steadily increased since as far back as the 2012 Olympics, Mrs Mojab says the introduction of LTNs in the borough has converted it into a rat run.
‘We know from the council’s data that the traffic on Poole Road is up 34 per cent since 2019,’ she said.
‘We have asked for the data on Valentine Road.
‘Another neighbour said her son used to cycle up and down the road, but during the Olympics, all of the lorries started coming down here.
‘This has become the unofficial B-road. We have buses and lorries, but it used to just be a residential road.
‘For us, it’s traffic coming off the A12… Drivers see this residential road and put their foot down.
‘We’re supposed to be living in a 20mph borough and people are not driving at 20mph.
‘It has caused multiple accidents, this wasn’t a one-off incident. You always have to be on your guard.
‘It’s an ongoing problem that has been getting worse for years.
‘I think the legislation around speed cameras was probably set around the 1980s.
‘To get a speed camera on your street you need something like three fatalities within three years – which is crazy.
‘The council is broke and people speed down this road all the time.
‘It’s a central government issue.’
Locals on Valentine and Poole Road have now told Hackney Council that something ‘needs to be done’ about the roads.
Mum-of-two Larissa Pople, who has lived in Poole Road for almost two decades, described the school run as ‘terrifying’.
‘A lot of kids cross Poole Road at Valentine Road,’ she said.
‘This rat run just fills me with absolute terror that at some point a kid is going to get involved in something really nasty.’
Ms Pople described another incident she and her children witnessed in November 2022, which resulted in a red car flipping onto its side at the junction between the two roads.
She added: ‘You just think – if someone had actually been crossing the road or had been on that bit of pavement at that moment, what would have happened?
‘Now that I am less involved with my children walking to and from school, you end up thinking, “Are they going to be seen when they cross the street?”.
‘It’s a nightmare.’
Like many living on roads made busier by the introduction of LTNs, Ms Pople added that the restricted traffic areas were ‘fantastic’ for those who live in them, but not for those who live on their outskirts.
‘Because they haven’t resolved the rat run issue in Poole Road, it’s actually led to an increase of traffic up that road, which is horrible,’ she said.
Mrs Mojab added that she’d penned a letter to the heads of ten local schools and other educational facilities, warning of the dangers of the road.
She and her neighbours believe a speed camera would discourage drivers from speeding down the road.
‘It’s insane,’ Mrs Mojab continued.
‘Children are encouraged to walk to school on their own from year five, but there’s cars speeding all the time.
‘It’s really scary. My daughter wants to ride her bike, but I tell her she can’t.
‘That’s a sad reality of life when you live on a road where traffic is constantly speeding past.
‘I think a speed camera on our road would be a good solution.
‘It’s the only solution – unless they want to re-route traffic.’
 A spokesman for Hackney Council said: ‘We are working, together with TfL, to improve all roads in our Borough.
‘We have already begun discussions with TfL to look into the feasibility of improving the junction on Poole Road and Valentine Road.
‘However, any road improvement scheme can take time to develop and is subject to future funding.
‘Hackney is committed to Vision Zero, which requires a multi-disciplinary approach to improving safety on our streets, and alongside engineering measures, requires education and enforcement.
‘We work closely on education and enforcement with the Metropolitan Police who have responsibility for enforcing the rules of the road.’
