Petition to put an end to dangerous driving on Old Turnpike Road, Fareham

Thank you for your recent Petition regarding road safety concerns on Old Turnpike, Fareham.

Despite local perceptions, the safety record on this road is very good. We have reviewed Police data, which shows only one injury collision recorded on Old Turnpike in the five-year period for which data is available, up to 31.08.24. This incident occurred back in September 2019 at the northern end of the road near North Hill junction and was a collision between a car and child pedestrian. The Police report shows fault attributed to the pedestrian, with no fault at all attributed to the driver or any reference to excess or inappropriate speed. Additionally, the Police have confirmed there are no other more recent collisions or incidents registered with them.

We note your covering letter for the petition states - “In recent months, there have been numerous incidents, which are raising alarm about the safety of this road”. Without any further detail of these incidents, and in the absence of any reported collisions, it is difficult to comment further on the residents’ general concerns. Given the lack of any recurring patterns or clusters of reported injury collisions, there is no justification to include Old Turnpike on our casualty reduction scheme programmes currently. However, we continue to regularly monitor the Police injury collisions database countywide and will consider intervention where any emerging or worsening trends occur.

Should the recent incidents referred to by residents be related to more general concerns about driver behaviours such as speeding or anti-social/inappropriate driving, these are enforcement matters that should be referred directly to the Police using the 101 non-emergency number or via their website - https://www.hampshire.police.uk/contact/contact-us/

Yours sincerely

Councillor Lulu Bowerman
Executive Member for Highways and Waste