Law RE: Industrial Estate Roads

how would they prove you were speeding?

surely if it's not technically 'the queens highway' they couldn't do anything, anyway?
 
You cannot block a public highway generally speaking, so it wouldnt be public after the barriers I'd imagine.

You could always ask "what speed was I doing". Or, you could stop speeding and just follow the rules until you are out of the business park.
 
YarwoodUK said:
I work at a company which has its building located on an Industrial Park.

The public have access to this industrial park/road which also has all appropriate road signs and markings which leads me to believe the Road Traffic Act and Road Traffic Regulation Act applies.

However the "entrance" of the park has barriers and rising bollards (neither of which are used) which are controlled by estate management

The speed limit is 20mph, but 95% of road users go more than 35mph faster than the limit.

I have been stopped once by estate management who told me "the limit is 20 but please keep it below 30"

I am not sure who maintains the roads (council or estate management).

"Hypothetically", if I were to be caught "speeding" by estate management, who claim they will deny access to road users breaking the speed limit, what defense/argument could I have, if any?

Also, as their (estate management) cars have flashing orange beacons, am I required to pull over should they flash me?
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Sounds like a private road/estate given the barriers (working or not).

It's not a public right of way and therefore private property. If you keep driving like a ****** on the land, I guess they could deny you access. Could make working there a bit tricky then :)

You don't *have* to stop if they ask (flash) you to, just as much as they don't have to let you on the land...

Better to slow down and stop speeding round the industrial estate, eh? Speed limit will be there for a reason.
 
Although to be fair if you do keep speeding, refuse (even lawfully) to stop for their vehicles then I don't think it too long until the park management have a word with your employer. If I were the owner of the business you work at, or the senior manager, I wouldn't be overly chuffed.

I think the best thing here would be to take it easy, listen to classic FM or something..
 
I'm not speeding or acting like a ****. As stated a very high percentage of the other road users/workers don't abide by the 20mph speed limit. Now I'm curious whether it's a public road as I think it is, or not, because if the real police come along and catch me doing 30mph in a 20mph, what will their actions be?
"Oh, I'm sorry officer, the estate management said I could do 30mph" won't wash down well.

There are no signs to say it's a private road/access etc. The only hint would be the barriers and rising bollards.

I'm sure it's a public highway/road, as it has bus routes, public can access it, has it's own road name, full road markings and signs etc,.
So can they really, in theory, deny access to a public highway?
 
The estate you mention is a public road going by your description, not a private road. I would be comfortable saying that they should not be denying anyone access to the public road by means of barriers of any kind. It would be different if they had the barriers at the company entrance.
 
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It would not be a highway after the bollards or barrier unless they are left open, at which point they would be subject to the RTA.
 
If it is a public highway you should be obeying the limit.
If it is not, then it might be private property, in which case the owners could refuse you access. They'd need to close the barriers though ;)
 
As burnsy said, Had a load of scrotes running up and down the one at our work on a scooter thinking they were on private property.
They were carted away in handcuffs :D
 
One thing to note is that even if the barriers are always up and it's therefore a public highway, the limits may not be enforceable or the limit although sign posted as 20 may just be 30 as it's a urban area but that's something a traffic officer would need to clarify.
 
AFAIK the barriers are always raised and the bollards are down unless to stop somebody perhaps.

One thing I should mention is that there is only one way in for vehicles (unless it's a bus in which they can raise a gate at the other end of the estate).

However the pedestrians can gain access by the gates/footpaths at both ends etc, again backing up that it is a public highway/throughway?
 
Private roads are still subject to most of the Road Traffic Act 1988 so regardless of if the barriers are up or down,, it is still covered by RTA 1988. Not quite sure what Burnsey is saying.
 
I was under the impression that the Road Traffic Act is only applicable to roads and highways that can be accessed by the public (vehicles, pedestrians or otherwise)?
 
YarwoodUK said:
I was under the impression that the Road Traffic Act is only applicable to roads and highways that can be accessed by the public (vehicles, pedestrians or otherwise)?
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No, a lot of the RTA applies to private roads. How else would you deal with someone being knocked down on these roads for example?
 
Richie said:
Private roads are still subject to most of the Road Traffic Act 1988 so regardless of if the barriers are up or down,, it is still covered by RTA 1988. Not quite sure what Burnsey is saying.
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No, he is correct. It comes down to how easy it is for the public to access the road. A supermarket car park is private, but covered by the RTA because there are no entry restrictions. If a barrier was closed to keep vehicles out between (say) 1am and 4am, it would still be covered, because access is still pretty free and easy. But if they had a barrier that was always closed except to let official vehicles in, and immediately closed again, the RTA would not apply because the public does not have general access. Thus the road described in the OP is almost certainly not covered by the RTA.


The other point is about speed limits: only the council can put in legally enforcible limits other than those which naturally arise from the type of road (that is, 30mph in built-up areas, NSL elsewhere) - and even there the council puts in the markers as to where the limits precisely apply. If the area is private, the council has no power over speed limits. The company owning the land can ban offenders, or discipline employees, for breaking the limit, but it cannot have them prosecuted.
 
Richie said:
Private roads are still subject to most of the Road Traffic Act 1988 so regardless of if the barriers are up or down,, it is still covered by RTA 1988. Not quite sure what Burnsey is saying.
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Private roads are still normally public highways as the public have a right to pass and repass, this isn't the case if access is restricted via bollards/barriers though.
 
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