Safer Isle of Man roads depend on difficult decisions, says forum

A report found promotion of better driving standards during TT was needed

Speed limits and vehicle checks are among the "most effective ways" to reduce deaths and injuries on Manx roads, a road safety forum has said.

Promotion of better driving standards during the TT is also included in the Road Safety Partnership's (RSP) report.

It is targeting a 40% cut in serious and fatal collisions by 2029.

RSP chairman Supt Stephen Maddocks said "genuine progress" would be limited unless the "difficult policy decisions" were taken.

The Isle of Man currently has no national speed limit and vehicle owners are not required to undertake an annual MoT test.

'Careful analysis'

The RSP, which includes the government, police and other emergency services, has released its first annual review of collision data for 2020.

It showed a 16% reduction in the three-year average of people killed or seriously injured in a crash compared to 2019, falling from 63 incidents to 53, and down from 71 in 2018.

Minister for Justice and Home Affairs Jane Poole-Wilson said the fall was encouraging but had been "exaggerated by the restrictions and cancellations during the coronavirus pandemic".

A temporary 40mph national speed limit was imposed between April and May 2020, while road racing events were called-off.

However, Supt Maddocks said setting a permanent national limit was a matter for Tynwald rather than the RSP, and would need "careful analysis", including how it would be enforced.

The RSP is aiming to reach an average of 41 by 2029, under a 10-year road safety strategy approved by Tynwald in 2019.

Supt Maddocks said the A18 Mountain Road on the TT course had seen "disproportionately high number of serious and fatal collisions", with two deaths and 28 serious injuries between 2016 and 2018.

Work undertaken since 2019 included school road safety schemes, new signage and regulations for heavy goods vehicles, he added.