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The resident Mole has been busy counting traffic, see the summary of thier findings below. It makes for controversial reading…

Our local postie has taken to parking in the bus stop by the church, and walking to the seven houses alongside Tubney Church because popping in and out of our drives is too dangerous.

This morning he comments, “When the lorries go past, they can blow you into the road”.  At that moment, Eddie Stobart thunders past and he shrugs.  “It’s a rural area,” he shouts above the noise. “They should slow the speed down to 30.”

He’s right – this is rural Oxfordshire. Around us is fields and woods.  We’re 2 miles from the nearest shop, we’ve no street lamps, or mains drainage. And we like it that way.  Yet right outside the front door is one of ‘the most dangerous roads in the south east of England’ (reports Oxford Mail and Jack fm, 6 Feb 2018).  Roaring past are heavy lorries carrying haulage, half-built cars, building material, FMCG, supply chain and logistics all moving “stuff”.

Why are they on this quiet, bendy, 50mph, one-lane-in each-direction A road? Perhaps because it’s the shortest route from M4 to M40, or from Swindon to Oxford, and uses up less diesel than going the A34 route.  Mr DAF, Mr Leyland and Mr IVECO tuck in, one behind the other in convoy through the countryside from 4am until the small hours, rattling the windows and challenging the foundations.

From my office window I have a clear view of both lanes – here are some 5-minute segments of today’s traffic survey. Data is less valid as haven’t captured morning rush-hour too.

Summary of findings

• Average traffic in both directions in 5 mins is 116 vehicles
• Average traffic in both directions in one hour is 1,392 vehicles

11.05-11.10 – usually the quietest time of the day

	Cars	Vans	HGV	Summary – in 5 mins, 58 vehicles
Oxford to Swindon	13	11	9	33 vehicles, 2 lorries per minute
Swindon to Oxford	17	3	5	25 vehicles, 1 lorry per minute

12.15-12.20 – also a quieter time of day

	Cars	Vans	HGV	Summary – in 5 mins, 99 vehicles
Oxford to Swindon	21	14	5	40 vehicles, 8 vehicles per minute
Swindon to Oxford	44	8	7	59 vehicles, 12 vehicles per minute

1.10-1.15 – aren’t people on lunch?

	Cars	Vans	HGV	Summary – in 5 mins, 95 vehicles
Oxford to Swindon	25	16	8	49 vehicles, 10 vehicles per minute
Swindon to Oxford	31	7	8	46 vehicles, 9 vehicles per minute

14.50-14.55 – getting a bit chaotic to count (might have missed a few)

	Cars	Vans	HGV	Summary – in 5 mins, 124 vehicles
Oxford to Swindon	41	11	10	62 vehicles, 12 vehicles per minute, 1 every 5 seconds
Swindon to Oxford	39	16	7	62 vehicles, 12 vehicles per minute, 1 every 5 seconds

15.40-15.45 – getting more chaotic to count both directions (definitely missed a few)

	Cars	Vans	HGV	Summary – in 5 mins, 133 vehicles (1 vehicle every 2 seconds)
Oxford to Swindon	63	14	4	81 vehicles, clearly heavier with cars in this direction
Swindon to Oxford	36	12	4	52 vehicles

16.45-16.50 – hard to count both directions (definitely missed a few)

	Cars	Vans	HGV	Summary – in 5 mins, 157 vehicles (1 vehicle every 2 seconds)
Oxford to Swindon	78	20	4	102 vehicles, clearly heavier with cars in this direction
Swindon to Oxford	30	16	9	55 vehicles

18.05-18.10 – chaos, don’t ask how I did it (impossible to differentiate vans and cars in the dark)

	Cars	Vans	HGV	Summary – in 5 mins, 149 vehicles (1 vehicle every 2 seconds)
Oxford to Swindon	99	2	1	102 vehicles, clearly much heavier with cars in this direction
Swindon to Oxford	36	4	7	47 vehicles