NEW weight restrictions preventing lorries using side streets near closed-off sections of Halifax Road are apparently causing confusion.

The weight limit for vehicles is now 3.5tonnes – but signs say 7.5 tonnes.

Residents say HGVs are speeding on their streets, creating a hazard.

This is just one example of how measures intended to calm traffic can often cause secondary problems.

Another case in point is Kirkwood Drive at Lindley, where residents say traffic-calming on nearby roads has pushed more drivers to use their street as a rat-run.

This could be true of many other residential streets in Huddersfield.

Kirkwood Drive was also the scene of a recent car crash which left a 17-year-old girl with serious head injuries.

The cause of that accident has yet to be determined, but after such terrible incidents there are often calls for traffic-calming and anti-speeding measures.

But should drivers need humps, signs and cameras to make them slow down?

Shouldn’t their common sense – and consideration for others – make them take care?

Sadly, it seems not. Perhaps it is our attitudes and not just our road signs which need to change.