The Campaign to Reclaim Tooting Broadway.

Every working day and most weekends me and several thousand other pedestrians negotiate our way across the junction of Tooting High Street and Mitcham Road in SW17 to start the unpleasant tube journey into town. The vehicle traffic there is so badly behaved it is often like trying to cross Ramses Square in Cairo (or any road in Italy).
It seems like when the green walking man lights up, it's a signal for drivers to go - or fail to stop-.
Then there's the box junction.

Most drivers travelling through Tooting think a box junction must be for parking on because the last time they read a Highway Code was when they passed their test in 1978 or-for true morons- March 2007.
The result is that ambulances on emergencies are delayed getting to and from St Georges hospital; south London is often gridlocked and us pedestrians are faced with death defying traffic dodging just to get on the Northern line where we get on trains with drivers who have no sense of direction or safety either -judging by recent horror stories coming out of Camden-.

These points and others were relayed in the first instance by me to Wandsworth Council on Friday 8th June using their 'contact us' tab on the website. I merely asked if they were aware there might be a problem here.
The auto reply stated that the council could take up to 10 working days to respond.
That was OK by me.
Some 3 hours later I had a reply from Wandsworth plus an e-mail and voicemail message from the Met police. The council said they had passed my concerns on to TFL and the cops said they were fully aware of the bad behaviour of drivers at this junction and had already set up a unit on site to improve the situation. A local councillor had also complained which helps galvanise the authorities.

TFL responded 2 days later. (I had made the point that buses were as bad, if not worse, in jumping red lights there). They merely said they would get back to me in 10 to 20 working days (which is about the time it takes for London bus drivers to stop at red lights at Tooting Broadway junction).

Sniffing momentum, I put my observations to my MP Sadiq Khan. He had previously sent round this 'round Robin' circular thing about helping Tooting residents in their daily lives. It was unfortunate for Mr Khan that the Tooting Broadway thing was in my radar when his leaflet came through the door.
A fast response from someone titled 'Case Worker for Sadiq Khan MP' ensued. I am promised my MP will ask the same questions of the authorities I am asking.

I am asking for drivers at that junction to think rationally. A tall order indeed. I want irresponsible drivers to be fined or locked up. I want irresponsible bus drivers to be fired.

An on going project.