Brassed off

Today I was timing the traffic lights in Braunton (near Barnstaple) where I still have plans for a lights-off trial, despite a refusal from Devon Highways and apathy from the current Parish Council. The trial is to prove the obvious: that we’re better off under self-control, without lights or priority. 45 secs of red time for the main A39, 40 secs for Caen Rd to/ from Croyde. There is no pedestrian phase; as the lights change against one stream of traffic, they change for the other. Once, I was crossing the junction on foot as the lights changed. I didn’t run. Why should I? I have just as much right to the road space – or I should have. In doing so, I delayed a Mercedes, first in line, by maybe two seconds. As I reached the pavement and he set off, he sounded his horn which echoed incongruously around the village, prompting a middle finger from me. Of course I blame the driver far less than I blame the traffic control system which turns Jekylls into Hydes.