New smiley faced speed signs have appeared on Burntwood Lane in Earlsfield and a local councillor has said that that they are a positive for the area.

Tooting Nub News spoke to Conservative councillor Sarah McDermott and Labour councillor Jo Rigby about the new signs (named SIDs - Speed Indicator Devices). McDermott says that they are a positive for the area, while Rigby says the road is still poorly designed for cyclists and suggested more needs to be done to change that.

The signs have been up for a couple of weeks now, with one going up the hill and one going down the hill.

With the speed limit set at 20mph, the SIDs tell you what speed you are going at and give you a smiley or sad face depending on whether you are going above or below the speed limit.

Sarah McDermott, a councillor in the Nightingale ward, told us that she has already seen the impact of the SIDs from seeing drivers go slower on that road.

She said: "We'd been pushing to make sure that drivers are educated to drive at 20mph - we've had the experiment and we're pushing to make it permanent.

"We need to keep educating drivers, with SIDs or community speed watch. In Nightingale, we've done more than any other ward.

"The chaps who work for the council are the best on the right devices to use. Sometimes it might be slowing traffic on the road; road bumps are not useful these days due to the pollution and noise.

"I definitely thought the traffic was slowed down because of that - we could well push for more of those on Burntwood Lane."

Earlsfield councillor Jo Rigby told us that the speed being shown to drivers is "interesting", however, the design of the road isn't suitable for cyclists.

"I regularly cycle up and down Burntwood Lane. It's interesting to see the speed flashing up, it does bring information to drivers that is also on their dashboard." she said.

"Yesterday an HGV was doing 29 mph with just inches between us. The road is so poorly designed for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

"There was a plan to redesign it to make it safer for children getting to school, however Conservative Cllrs Angela Graham and Rosemary Birchall both spoke against these plans at committee.'"

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