Drivers should be prosecuted over Romsey bridge crashes

Romsey councillor Mark Cooper has called for dangerous drivers to be prosecuted, after a lorry hit the rail bridge on Greatbridge Road on Tuesday morning.

It shut the road until it could be safely removed at approximately 11.30am.

According to Hampshire Constabulary, the driver was unharmed, and no legal action has been taken.

The crash blocked the road for several hours (Image: Chris Atkinson)

This is the second time that a lorry has crashed into the bridge in four months, after another HGV was stuck on May 3.

Residents of the road and town councillors have both voiced their frustrations of crashes at the blackspot, with more than 25 collisions between heavy goods vehicles and the bridge occurring in the past 19 years.

READ MORE: UPDATES: Town centre road closed after lorry stuck under bridge

Cllr Mark Cooper said: “I think the bridge has been well marked out; there is a nice new colour scheme which is very noticeable, and the lorry driver who doesn’t realise that his lorry is too big for the bridge needs to be prosecuted for dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention.

Cllr Mark Cooper (Image: Newsquest)

“I don’t think we can do anything more to protect it.

“I have, in the past, asked for chains to be put at the head of the bridge, but it would be so intrusive to have the posts and the chains hanging down that it would be hardly worth the effort. I do think the only thing that is going to work is significant fines for the drivers who don’t know the size of their own vehicle.”

READ MORE: School bus driver abandoned children on side of the road due to traffic

Cllr Cooper said that he was surprised to hear that no legal action was being taken against the driver of the lorry who crashed on September 24.

He added: “It is frustrating. Whenever there is an accident, the police have to devote a significant number of resources to resolving the issue, so I would have thought it would be in their interest to prosecute drivers, and I’m surprised to hear that they don’t think it is within their interests to do it.

“But the police will decide what they do, the only way we can change that is if we ask the Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, to ensure that this type of dangerous driving is prosecuted.”

Cllr Sandra Gidley (Image: Contributed)

Cllr Sandra Gidley said that she disagreed with Cllr Cooper’s remarks, saying that she thought it would not be a “quick fix”.

She said: “I don’t think there is a huge network where (lorry drivers) are in touch, and I don’t know how word would get around on that. I still think a better warning system would be better.

“In any event, it takes a huge amount of time to bring a prosecution, so if we are having two (crashes) in four months, you could have any number before the word got around, so I don’t see that as a quick fix.

“I can understand the frustration is somebody saying that though, I really can, because this has been going on for donkey’s years.”