Mainland motorists, ‘irresponsible young drivers’ and ‘incapable old drivers’ are not the main cause of crashes on Isle of Wight roads, a senior police chief has said.
It follows 2021 data, published by the Isle of Wight’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP), which showed there were 242 road accidents involving injury on the Island.
Speaking at the Isle of Wight Council’s corporate scrutiny committee on Tuesday, Cllr Chris Quirk said the impression on the Island is that there is a twin peak issue with ‘young drivers being irresponsible and old drivers not being capable.’
He also questioned whether it was possible to know if it was Islanders or holidaymakers who caused the accidents. Cllr Quirk hoped through knowing who caused the accidents, actions could be targeted to those groups to try to reduce incidents.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Superintendent Robert Mitchell said there was nothing to indicate an issue with mainland drivers coming across, as crashes were ‘mainly resident drivers.’
He also said there was no differential between young and old drivers, although there may be more of an influence of drug driving on the younger population.
Supt. Mitchell said there is a challenge with the layout of roads on the Island and the rural nature, and a ‘certain complacency with some residents on how safe it is to speed.’
Analysis of the accident data suggested more incidents occurred between April and September than in other months and between Wednesday to Saturday than other days. Peaks of crashes were in mid-morning (11:00-13:00) and in the evening rush hour (16:00-18:00).
The majority of crashes, the CSP said, occurred on built-up roads with a speed limit of 21 to 30mph and not usually at junctions.
A concern for the CSP was the relatively high rates of admission to hospital for motorcyclists aged up to 24, which was above the national average.
To crack down on road safety, which is a priority for the CSP, the Roads Policing Unit has recently been re-established with officers undertaking speed enforcement activity.
Supt. Mitchell said in a recent campaign, Operation Mile, more than 120 offences had been picked up, and drivers were prosecuted either through a ticket or in court, with the vast majority for impaired driving through drugs or alcohol.
Ha, there we have it. The two wheeled brigade up against the drugged (probably state funded drugs or liquor) blue rinse tip goer responsible for the island’s motoring ills.
I bet it’s the drivers from Burley who are to blame.
The reason why there are so many accidents on the Island is because of the following:-
1 Speeding
2 Drink driving
3 Drug driving
4 Mobile phones being used whilst driving
5 Persons parking on pavements
6 Poor infrastructure on the Island due to incompetent
Road Safety (Road Safety is Poor on the Island)
Traffic calming / Road Humps need installing down many
Island roads plus speed camera’s.
Etc Etc.
Yes why don’t we penalise the many, When only a few to blame!
Shock news, as I thought according to the odd biased bitter person on here, it would all be down the the hard working home owner along Great Preston road.
So nice to get facts, not fiction, but sadly the bitter and dim won’t accept such, no matter, the silent majority do, and that is ALL that matters.
Are there any hardworking home owners who live along Great Preston Road
I thought they were all benefit b*ums!
All are delinquents who do not understand right from wrong,
that’s why I moved from G.P Rd a number of years ago.
Agree. Add in ANPR cameras to check legality of insurance etc snd to monitor known offenders
Also a minority of motorcyclists speed excessively and take risks which endanger others
Most are responsible , it is a hardened arrogant minority.
And most motorcycle accidents are because people just don’t see them!
Although many motorcyclists could do well to mind out for the less vigilant drivers (there are many!)
Nothing will change on the Island.
The Law could not catch a ball yet alone a crim.
Tney were effective during Covid Lockdowns fining people
for sitting on benches or drinking a coffee
So no different from the rest of the uk, so why do we have proportionately higher collisions?
Because of the complacent attitude of drivers here.
It’s all the old drivers we have poodling along aimlessly, they cause frustration driving so slow, which can lead to accidents. How about banning over 65s, make them get the bus and free up the rds, we could also increase the speed limit a tad as well as we wouldn’t need to worry about there awful reaction times.
where you born stupid or do you practice daily because you really are good at it, hope you will have the decency to turn in your licence the day you reach 65 although the place would probably be safer if you turned it in now based on your post.
When I get brain dead wankers like you on my tail pipe . I drive even slower . The speed limit is not a target , you don’t have to drive at the maximum speed .if you don’t like it ,stay at home and suck your thumb .
No Reg, I wouldn’t say I was stupid, I’m guessing my post has touched a nerve? Are you an old slow driver that likes clogging up the rds on a Sunday taking a bag of grass cuttings to the tip? I spend a lot of time on the rds, and im constantly stuck behind old slow drivers, driving well below the speed limit, looking terrified about what they’re doing! And yes I’d be happy to hang up my keys if I ever get to that age Reg, cause if I ended up driving like most of the old timers on this island I’d be devastated!
I totally agree in regards to the very slow drivers. I spend quite a lot of time driving on the Island all hours of the day and night.
One of the biggest problems is Very Slow and poor driving, Which isn’t just an age thing. Nore is it about the Speed, Speeding has been made an anti social behaviour by the limpy lefties and the government to make money out of fines. Just look at how long the police have been fining speeders yet the roads are no better. I was taught to drive to the conditions and speed of the roads and keep up with the flow of traffic. Too many people pull out of junctions at a snails pace causing cars behind them to brake hard and unexpectedly.
Spending lots of time on the road doesn’t make you a better driver, it makes you over confident in your ability and underestimate the risks.
Amen. They are a nightmare. They drive at 30mph all the time. So annoying.
They’re bloody dangerous! 30 in a 20, 20 in a 30, 30 in a 60! But there tell you they have never had an accident in the 60 years of driving, but more than likely caused about 10.
So let me get your logic right. Because I am abiding by the speed limit and driving carefully I am “holding you up”, causing you “to be late for work.” That gives you the excuse to stupidly over take me, break the speed limit and if you cause a crash then somehow that is my fault, I don’t think so. If you are late then you should have left earlier.
No I think he’s referring to driving at 30 in a 40, 30 in a 50, 30 in a 60, old people stay at a constant speed of 30, must feel like warp speed to them, they need to hang there keys up if they can’t meet the speed limit
30mph gives 20% of death chance to a pedestrian if you hit them. 40mph is 90% death chance to a pedestrian. Seriously, 30mph is super sensible and is being widely accepted as best practice by urbanists in places with bus stops (which is most major roads on the Island) where pedestrians can appear. And limit is just a limit – you should drive at a speed that’s safe, which – again – according to best practices is going to end up being 30mph outside of highways (we don’t really have any that have no bus traffic/stops).
Take Stalpers Road for example: plenty of bus stops but no actual pavement, just slippery grass. Doing 30mph there to safeguard vulnerable road users is a moral thing to do.
They forgot to mention rushing for the ferry
“The majority of crashes, the CSP said, occurred on built-up roads with a speed limit of 21 to 30mph and not usually at junctions.”
Maybe there are misconceptions then. Because in my mind accidents are common on the Middle Road, Yarmouth Road, the Downs, and other long stretches of road. And also at notorious junctions on those roads. Stories about car flipping, hedge smashing, and drivers running off to avoid drug and alcohol tests.
But it’s just my misconception I guess. Be careful what you read!
Mainly waffle. nothing telling there at all, no answers as to why so many vehicles end up on their side or upside-down although it must be fairly obvious, i.e. phones and speed. It hints at poor roads being to blame which is rubbish, if it’s a cart track (as many are fast becoming) then drive to suit.
Island roads shocking re-surfacing of many roads are adding to the issues on the Island.
For they no longer tar-mac to the very edge of the banks along country roads so, as the tarmac ends before the raised banks, the gap left, soon erodes away with heavy rain, leaving a deep gap.
This causes motorists to often give an overly wide berth and force others on the opposite side of the road too far into their side ‘gap’.
Also, this gap then undermines the edge of the tarmac, so will speed up the crumbling edge making the road new tar mac’s life span short.
All gaps need filling with something more stable than soil
What a load of rubbish. If the police want to banish these misconceptions, present the actual data showing who is involved in accidents rather just saying that specific groups are not an issue.
Senior policing officers have sociology degrees father than experience and push which ever mantra their superiors want publicised. Common Purpose it’s called.
I was chatting to Mitch the other day and he did offer a kindly word of advice, to remind Parker not to drive the Rolls over 75 on the island or he’d find it very difficult to ‘turn a blind eye’ if you know what I mean. He’s a good sort is Mitch. I’ll get him a drink or two at the club next time.
Is digging up the roads the Islands main industry?
Digging up fibre installations so people can download porn faster?
Or is there gold deposits under Yarbridge junction Bembridge?
So many questions.
Plod get out and be a visible deterrent.
Earn your wages you overpaid public servants.
Drove along Beaper Shute this evening.
50mph speed limit, I was travelling at 48mph
There was a motorcycle with NO working headlight
up my a*se, then 2 N’utters overtook the bike and myself
by driving on the opposite side of the Road nr a blind bend
They must have been doing 70mph+
Why why why is there NO LAW AND ORDER on the Island!
No wonder Beaper White is an accident Hotspot
Traffic calming measure and Permanent speed cameras are
required to make this Road safe for everyone.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Superintendent Robert Mitchell said there was nothing to indicate an issue with mainland drivers coming across, as crashes were ‘mainly resident drivers
Analysis of the accident data suggested more incidents occurred between April and September
more accidents happen in tourist season, however police say resident drivers are having more accidents. conclusion – it is obvious more residents will see a higher proportion of accidents overall, as they are here 12 months of the year, however, as most accidents occur in tourist season, it goes without saying, that tourists lack of knowledge of island road layout and conditions means they are the cause of more accidents than locals in summer
So whatever statistics say it’s always the tourists fault
So drink driving isn’t a major factor then? Sounds like some can’t see past the end of their nose And admit a problem. Sure Most accident posts start with “Drink driver causes”. Regardless wether 18 or 81 they do pull some crash stunts only Hollywood could produce.