'Irresponsible' motorists run red lights at bridge

Suffolk County Council said 112 motorists have risked racing through the Gull Wing Bridge's red safety lights

More than 100 breaches of a bridge's red safety lights have been branded as "irresponsible" by a councillor.

Between March and July 112 motorists using the Gull Wing Bridge in Lowestoft were caught racing through the lights to avoid waiting for the bridge to be raised, Suffolk County Council said.

Under the Highways Code, motorists at flashing red lights at places like lifting bridges must stop. Failure to do so could result in penalty points or fines.

Paul West, the council's cabinet member for operational highways, said tougher measures were being considered to tackle the issue and prevent accidents including installing automatic number plate recognition cameras.

"I'm surprised it is so high," he said. "It's irresponsible driving. The majority of people are law abiding and are very sensible, but a very tiny minority are trying to jump the red lights and it only puts themselves and others in danger.

"Obviously one or two people always try these things, but we need to get across the message that the barrier and the red lights are there for a reason - to protect all road users. People need to adhere to that even if they're in a hurry.

"They need to stop at the red light, that's the safe thing to do."

The Gull Wing Bridge cost £145m to build and opened in September

West added that taxpayers have to bear the cost of repairing any damage to the barrier.

Staff began recording breaches after they noticed more happening.

On one occasion a van raced through and collided with the barrier, leaving it inoperable until it was repaired.

The council was pursuing a claim for the costs, but West said this would not be possible to do in every case.

The authority was also considering putting ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras in place.

"It isn't something we're ruling out, we're looking at that seriously because we've got to get those numbers of people jumping the red light down," West added.

The bridge opened in September and is the third crossing over Lake Lothing.