A motorcyclist was seriously injured in a crash in Portslade, prompting concerned residents and their councillors to organise a petition calling for proper road safety measures.
The motorcyclist, a 27-year-old man from Portslade, suffered a broken leg and was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
His Suzuki bike was in a crash with a Land Rover in Mile Oak Road, near the corner of The Rise, at lunchtime on Saturday (2 December).
An air ambulance landed near by before the biker was taken to hospital by road.
A section of Mile Oak Road was closed between Chalky Road and Stonery Road for some time after the crash.
Councillor Peter Atkinson, who represents North Portslade, along with Councillor Penny Gilbey, said: “Residents have been raising concerns with this stretch of road for many years now.
“I picked up on this when I became a councillor and my predecessor Bob Carden had raised it regularly as has my colleague Councillor Gilbey.
“There are no passing points as you head south along the Mile Oak Road from Chalky Road which forces two lanes of traffic into one.
“There are large vans that block the line of sight and there is also a slight brow and curve in the road that make it impossible to see what’s coming the other way.
“Cars regularly speed along this 20mph road and even try to overtake sometimes.
“I’m just amazed that there haven’t been more serious accidents.”
An online petition is being organised which Councillor Atkinson hopes to present to the Brighton and Hove City Council Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee early next year.
Meanwhile he and Councillor Gilbey are asking the council’s traffic safety and parking departments to take a fresh look urgently at the stretch of road where the crash happened.
Yesterday another motorcyclist was involved in a crash during the evening rush hour in Hove.
It happened at the traffic light crossroads where Nevill Road and Sackville Road meet Old Shoreham Road.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said: “At 5.24pm firefighters from Hove attended an RTC (road traffic collision) involving one car and one motorcycle on the junction of Nevill Road and Old Shoreham Road.
“Crews made the area and vehicles safe and administered first aid.”
Council roads department – unless it’s about installing even more traffic lights or bus lanes, they have no clue. #incompetent
The country’s roads and pavements are literally disintegrating due to lack of maintenance over a number of years, and the few “repairs” are of such poor quality that they have to be done again within a short time, often resulting in patches on top of patches, with the whole lot starting to break up within months, or even weeks.
For decades councils have clung to the insane idea that they can reduce accidents by making the roads more dangerous. This may help to reduce the severity of accidents by forcing regular users of these routes to drive more slowly, but then comes an innocent stranger who isn’t aware of the hazards ahead, a delivery driver perhaps, or someone visiting distant relatives.
The way to reduce accidents is to make the roads SAFER, you idiots in councils across the country.