A lorry has struck the railway bridge at Avenue Road in Sandown this morning (Thursday), ending up on 3 wheels and going nowhere.
The incident occurred at around 08:30 and has seen a high-sided lorry and trailer collide with the iron bridge at the junction with Perowne Way.
The vehicle – belonging to British Gypsum and towing an XPO Logistics trailer – is currently going nowhere and is up on 3 wheels, with the twisted trailer hard up against the bridge structure.
Traffic is extremely heavy in the area with motorists advised to find an alternative route.
Island Line train services have been suspended as a result of the crash, with Network rail expected to send inspectors out to Sandown to check for any damage to the rail network.
All trains will remain at stand for the time being.
Southern Vectis buses are on diversion, utilising Yaverland as the most suitable alternative route.
This isn’t the first time that a large vehicle has struck the bridge, with at least 2 previous strikes in recent years.
UPDATE @ 11:25 – Island Line trains have now resumed.
Total idiot of a driver, he will be reported for careless driving for his actions and the company will probably sack him as well and rightly so.
He should not be allowed to drive an HGV he must know the size of his vehicle. Moron
So rude !!!!
Would you like to be his co-pilot?????
Large hgv small bridge doh !!!!!!
What is judgemental about that i am being completely accurate. You are obviously
not very articulate which explains your lack of vocabulary. I presume the person driving was probably related to you morons stick together.
Yeah like you know the size of your car.
Typical car drivers comment
If his lorry is legal, it should have a plaque in the drivers cab showing its size, so he should be culpable for his actions.
Someone didn’t know his load height like he is supposed to,he also can’t read warning signs, total idiot !!!!!!!
Female driver
Agree with Wolf, BUT, its happened before and it will happen again. Why don’t Whoever’s responsible for the bridge safety, put a sacrificial wooden bar jutting out from the bridge mounted on brackets, which would be mounted at the same hight as the bridge. So, if some plonker forgets he /she id driving a high truck, they will get a loud warning when they hit this wooden bar and hopefully stop before it’s too late. Just a thought.
No Wolf is 100% correct, he should know the size of his vehicle.
I blame the Audi driver
help me step lorry I’M stuck
WHY DOES THIS COMMENT HAVE SO MANY DOWNVOTES?!
Probabaly because it is boring
u old unhumoured fossil
Oh for goodness sake!!!!
How can you not know how high your lorry is ?????
There is a sign saying height of bridge ….
Total muppet !!!!!
Thanks for making everyone’s day , late for work late for school, appointments etc , sure we all are happy due to incompetence!!!!!!!
Where is the sign?? Oh great on the bridge itself. So experts where is the driver supposed to turn the 50 odd foot vehicle around?
There was a sign telling high vehicles to turn right at the lights.
Might be obscured by overhanging trees.
He could have turned right just before the bridge. Anyhow it should be part of his homework before he set out on the journey that the roads he was proposing to use was suitable for his vehicle. Also if he was using an updated lorry sat nav, that should also have warned him.
Yes, I bet you was going to so many important places. This is the Isle of Wight .
Judgemental prick
Should be removed you rude ignorant muppet !
Immature rude little girl
You sound rather angry, time of the month?.
Sack the idiot driver – signs are clearly visible
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/travel-accessories/travel-equipment/aa-truckers-atlas-britain-701302.html?cm_mmc=Google+PLA-_-Motoring%3EMotoring+Products%3ETravel+Accessories%3ETravel+Equipment-_-Motoring%3EMotoring+Products%3ETravel+Accessories%3ETravel+Equipment-_-701302&istCompanyId=b8708c57-7a02-4cf6-b2c0-dc36b54a327e&istFeedId=62b447cf-331e-4fec-a47a-9985ff72d404&istItemId=rtpxtppmi&istBid=t&_$ja=tsid:|cid:17375244178|agid:|tid:|crid:|nw:x|rnd:909788315900609485|dvc:m|adp:|mt:|loc:1006657&gclid=CjwKCAjw7p6aBhBiEiwA83fGuncAjq7F38tSsk9S9C0A59pxwThOvA-AS6Y0XgS3ubgKEMQEJwdJChoC1igQAvD_BwE
Thinking you got far too much time on your hands… wow
We simply don’t have the infrastructure for vehicles of this size, logistics need more checks before using large vehicles on the island…
Idiot how do you think all shops get there supply they don’t come over in transit vans
Use your tiny brain if you have one….Idiot…
Post body, chubby
Hardly a large vehicle.
Nonsense,you don’t have to vent spleen due to one isolated and unfortunate incident for heavens sake.Goods,by definition, rely on big trucks to move em is the top and tail of it.
cant park there mate
Don’t give up the day job!
More bad driving on the IW
The driver should be done for dangerous driving.
Oh he will,be sure of that.Tea and biscuits with the transport commisioner for one.
It’s just touched the bridge. But the response will be way over the top as responses to these things always are. Dozens of police, police cars all over the place, incident commander vans, an army of hi-vis types, fire engines, the air ambulance and God knows what else. The bridge will be fine and probably all the lorry has to do is reverse a bit and normality will fall into place. The only real casualty will be the driver’s career with this company, and rightly ended.
He tried reversing but was stuck on the bridge hence what caused the trailer to twist and the lorry left on 3 wheels
Never dealt with anything like this have you but the first to criticise how its being dealt with.
That’s absolutely right.
He was probably using car sat nav. Because I am my self class 1 driver andi use my hgv sat nav as well as hard map. I have seen many hgv drivers still use car sat nav and that’s what happens.
As a former HGV 1 ďriver I know NOT to trust Sat nav but to use my EYES when going down the road. There are more than enough signs warning of the height restriction and the diversion. To Paul Pelosi I would say, you said this highly trained driver could just reverse out. Would you say the same to a highly trained surgeon who made a mistake that killed someone. The reason we are highly trained is to avoid incidents like this.
Except this particular “highly trained” driver didn’t avoid the accident did he?
Except we aren’t ‘highly-trained’ are we ? (hgv myself once) Yes a toughish test involved but it takes years to encounter the many scenarios that make us…fully fledged so to speak.No way does a basic hgv test equip a rookie for the horrors ahead.
May I suggest that the young Police Constable with the chip on his shoulder,that the simple erection of a road closed sign would stop cars approaching the bridge from the Sandown side.
The driver should be sacked ,I totally agree with what Chris said
Finally Island Line trains have a genuine excuse for cancellations other than ‘staff shortages ‘ or ‘engineering works’. You wait…the next excuse for train cancellations will be the classic ‘Leaf’s on the line’ (well it is autumn afterall)
Leaves !!!!
Wightfibre must be fuming. It’s their job to block all the road traffic, not some lorry driver.
Bravo so true…plus the hole closing road in shanklin its just a joke
Reminds me of when George Jenkins Transport hit the same Bridge a few years ago.
Do people not realise the size of their vehicles.
I blame brexit and liz truss
Let’s hope he wasn’t plastered!!
I feel a bit sorry for the driver, yes, a mistake has been made, but the guy probably has a mortgage/bills, and is trying to work for his living, now his future looks bleak, hope he can deal with all the stress of it.
Shouldn’t be a problem.
George Jenkins done the same, he still operates a fleet.
This is because of Putin’s war!
I only came here for the comments.
You weren’t disappointed!!
should have gone to spec savers
If idiots are not parking on Pavements they are hitting bridges.
If your going to drive hgvs buy a decent truck nav and input the the vehicle height length width and weight before you set off and as long as the maps are up to date you should be kept away from any roads with bridges that are too low or roads that are inappropriate for your size of vehicle. Failing that pre-plan your route before you set off. Easy to judge when I’m sat on my couch I know but still true.
Could the height sign be incorrect? Any things possible if Island Roads are involved.
Plenty of cheap plasterboard up for grabs …..
To all you clowns saying he should be sacked etc. I hope your sh1t doesn’t stink and you are completely perfect.
I wonder if anyone has measured the gap under the bridge recently – just thinking left-field here! Road been resurfaced over the years, the bridge sagging by a few centimetres over many decades. Or even the driver being given the wrong height for his trailer – I doubt if he actually measures it himself but goes on what he’s told.
Or I could, quite possibly be talking nonsense!
Of course, it could just be down to stupidity but maybe we ought to give him (her?) the benefit of the doubt before he’s hung, drawn and quartered!
Knowing the height of your trailer is the responsibility of the driver and no-one else.
He should have the height set on his height indicator in the cab and he should be observant of road signs indicating low bridges.
Its irrelevant if someone else tells you the height as the driver is still legally responsible.
The driver is 100% responsible with the only mitigation given if there are missing/obstructed signs but even then he would still be held accountable.
Even if there were multiple road diversions that confused the driver and directed him towards a low bridge, which often happens, when approaching a bridge like this he should approach with caution anyway.
No ageist comments or it’s Island driver ones? I’m so disappointed.
I never knew there was so many expert lorry drivers on the island? I would have thought they would be out to work seing there is a shortage of experienced drivers.
Oh no island trains not running again!!
At least for ONCE its not their fault
Has it happened before at that bridge, if no, the trailer is probably higher and longer than the usual size trailers that come onto the island and driver not knowing our little roads
I’m realising increasingly the low-vibrational,zero intelligence levels of the comment-adjudicators at large on this low-grade toytown rag even for the most innocent yet constructive remarks i used to post.Masonic knobshiners all.
what a plonker …can’t park there mate…
no photos of the recovery ????