Girl, 16, dies as crash shuts motorway and major route - live updates (From Daily Echo)

Sad,sad,sad. The youngest people are allowed to have control of the most vulnerable types of transport.

I do not know the circumstances of the tragedy so this is not a comment about the accident.

As a user of this road many times, I have seen some frightening driving at this location.

Regularly I have had other motorists cut in front of me when they realised they were about to go in the wrong direction.

What the road needs is large illuminated signs much nearer Ringwood, advising drivers to get in the correct lane for their intended destination.

Mopeds should not be allowed on such a road. Driving at 30mph on a road where other vehicles pass at 70+ is a recipe for disaster.

Very sad that a young girl has lost her life just to become another statistic for the highway agency to ignore, a young girl on a scooter on a 70mph road "why" she is not allowed on a motorway although the speed limit is the same. The people at the highway's agency should hang their heads in shame.

ohec wrote:
Very sad that a young girl has lost her life just to become another statistic for the highway agency to ignore, a young girl on a scooter on a 70mph road "why" she is not allowed on a motorway although the speed limit is the same. The people at the highway's agency should hang their heads in shame.

Technically someone can cycle down the A31 too. You would have a death wish if you did mind.

My thoughts to the family of friends of this young girl.
Please will the Highways Agency listen to what the local council is saying. If one more death occurs on this stretch which can attributable to speed then the H/A have blood on their hands.

Just goes to show what happens when you mix a 30 mph vehicle with a 70+ mph vehicle ( some people on push bikes can reach over 30 mph should we let them use motorways, I know this ain't a motorway, but that junction is a very dangerous and fast junction ) any vehicle which can not reach the same speed as a HGV should not be on a duel carrigeway. There needs to be something done now before someone else looses there life.
Our thoughts go out to the family and friends.

Terribly sad. Condolensces to family and friends of the girl

How very Sad, my thoughts are with the family,I had a moped as a young girl and would never have allowed my 3 now grown up children have one, got hit 3 times, twice gentle enough to not unseat me due to cars pulling in to the kerbside to quickly after overtaking and once by a large box van speeding down School lane Hamble which put me in the hedge and overturned him. the age limit should be put up on these death traps and the speed limit brought down on this road. I feel for the Girls family. :-(

Awfully sad news. So tragic. My heart goes out to her family.

It makes no difference whether she was on a moped or not. If a car had broken down or there was an accident, there can be no excuse for crashing into it. You are in control of your vehicle and you should be able to stop in time.

We really do need to emphasize aggressive driving is dangerous driving.

Not necessarily speed but aggression and a total lack of awareness of potential hazards.

Keep in mind that someone may do something unpredictable, a mistake or a mechanical failure or ice on the road.

I keep a good distance from the car in front but how many times does someone over take me to fill the gap.

So I know damned well if the driver in front has to make an emergency stop - HE CAN'T.

He will continue and go into the car in front which in turn will push that car into something.

If we really want safer roads then I really think we need to teach advanced driving to all in the first place.

Inappropriate speeds.

Some speed limits in Hampshire are anything but safe. 50mph as you approach a roundabout but 30mph on Bridge Road Hill.

If you were to hit Segensworth roundabout at 50mph it would be disastrous.

Drivers are not on the ball when driving at 30mph on roads like Bridge Road Hill for instance, so slow they stop focusing on the road 40mph would be more appropriate.


Speed limits are just a money making scheme for the government.

How awful, just 16 years.

News Fanatic wrote:
I do not know the circumstances of the tragedy so this is not a comment about the accident.

As a user of this road many times, I have seen some frightening driving at this location.

Regularly I have had other motorists cut in front of me when they realised they were about to go in the wrong direction.

What the road needs is large illuminated signs much nearer Ringwood, advising drivers to get in the correct lane for their intended destination.

I do so agree, people who don't know the roads suddenly find themselves in the wrong lane.

You have a situation where you have to cross to the middle or fast lane in order to proceed on the road you are on, as the slow lane takes you in a totally different direction.

This is not a question of indicating and moving out the slow lane to an exit lane like most road plans go.

The design of some of our motorways are a death trap.

Having driven all around the continent on roads unknown to me, I have to say the worst roads I have ever driven on are the British roads.

The one bonus with the toll roads in France, or Italy is that at the end you have the pay booth. You have to stop and pay, then you can just choose the direction you need to go.

william1603 wrote:
Just goes to show what happens when you mix a 30 mph vehicle with a 70+ mph vehicle ( some people on push bikes can reach over 30 mph should we let them use motorways, I know this ain't a motorway, but that junction is a very dangerous and fast junction ) any vehicle which can not reach the same speed as a HGV should not be on a duel carrigeway. There needs to be something done now before someone else looses there life.
Our thoughts go out to the family and friends.

Banning some road users from using dual carriageways won't help (the A3024 is a dual carriageway for the most part and is one of the safer ways into town from the east when cycling), showing that there are severe punishments for dangerous/reckless driving will help, there was a time when there were adverts showing what could happen due to driving in such a way but these days, all drivers seem to get for taking an innocent life is a fine, 2 months of community service and 4 points on their licence, how is THAT a deterrent? It should be a stint in prison between 6 months and 5 years for dangerous/reckless, depending on how serious it was with a driving ban when you get released.

That's a fair point, but not all drivers are reckless or careless, and on such a junction at that time of night where vizabilty is less that perfect, traveling at 70mph, whilst checking your blind spot, and changing lanes, then all of a sudden you are faced with a very small single rear light of a moped traveling at 30mph, (not sure if she was wearing a highviz vest or not, but I do think all bike riders should) the other driver may not have had any where or time to do anything. At the grand age of 16 I personally don't think you have enough road knollage to ride on that sort of road.

A crime scene would suggest that this poor girl's death was intentional, but I have heard nothing in news reports to suggest that this is the case. Neither do I blame the teenager for riding a moped on a busy road which is perfectly legal being an "A" road.

However, I still believe that the Police are increasingly and unnecessarily closing major roads for unacceptable periods of time following accidents, irrespective of whether there have been fatalities ie. A326 last Friday.

Added to which, as others have written, a phased diversion between the M27 and Ringwood could have been introduced and the closure at Ower was in itself implemented in very dangerous manner.

At 8.30 am this morning there were no warnings that the M27 was closed until reaching the westbound slip road at Junction 2 and, within the space of a few seconds, I witnessed several drivers having to swerve unexpectedly when realising the road was blocked.

Yes, perhaps these drivers should not be approaching a junction at speed, but why weren't warning signs placed further down the approach roads to what is a very busy motorway junction?

william1603 wrote:
That's a fair point, but not all drivers are reckless or careless, and on such a junction at that time of night where vizabilty is less that perfect, traveling at 70mph, whilst checking your blind spot, and changing lanes, then all of a sudden you are faced with a very small single rear light of a moped traveling at 30mph, (not sure if she was wearing a highviz vest or not, but I do think all bike riders should) the other driver may not have had any where or time to do anything. At the grand age of 16 I personally don't think you have enough road knollage to ride on that sort of road.

Please, if a police officer on a motorbike wearing FULL highviz can still get hit, what good would a highviz vest do to slower riders? I've got reflective straps on my bike and bag, but I still get morons passing me way too close or pulling out on me at night, I also have no less than 5 rear lights and 3 front lights, one of the front lights is also as bright as a scooter head light or brighter so I can see potholes and stuff before I hit them and that is because many drivers don't LOOK for anything with less than 2 headlights or 2 rear lights because when you're in a car, the only things that pose a danger to you is anything of a similar size or bigger unless you happen to drive a car made of paper, it needs drilling into the heads of drivers while they're learning, to always keep vulnerable road users in mind.

eurogordi wrote:
A crime scene would suggest that this poor girl's death was intentional, but I have heard nothing in news reports to suggest that this is the case. Neither do I blame the teenager for riding a moped on a busy road which is perfectly legal being an "A" road.

However, I still believe that the Police are increasingly and unnecessarily closing major roads for unacceptable periods of time following accidents, irrespective of whether there have been fatalities ie. A326 last Friday.

Added to which, as others have written, a phased diversion between the M27 and Ringwood could have been introduced and the closure at Ower was in itself implemented in very dangerous manner.

At 8.30 am this morning there were no warnings that the M27 was closed until reaching the westbound slip road at Junction 2 and, within the space of a few seconds, I witnessed several drivers having to swerve unexpectedly when realising the road was blocked.

Yes, perhaps these drivers should not be approaching a junction at speed, but why weren't warning signs placed further down the approach roads to what is a very busy motorway junction?

Sorry but the scene of any RTC is treated as a crime scene, especially one involving a fatality but I do agree they should put several repeated signs out, warning of the closure further away to give motorists time to notice.

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

william1603 wrote:
That's a fair point, but not all drivers are reckless or careless, and on such a junction at that time of night where vizabilty is less that perfect, traveling at 70mph, whilst checking your blind spot, and changing lanes, then all of a sudden you are faced with a very small single rear light of a moped traveling at 30mph, (not sure if she was wearing a highviz vest or not, but I do think all bike riders should) the other driver may not have had any where or time to do anything. At the grand age of 16 I personally don't think you have enough road knollage to ride on that sort of road.

Please, if a police officer on a motorbike wearing FULL highviz can still get hit, what good would a highviz vest do to slower riders? I've got reflective straps on my bike and bag, but I still get morons passing me way too close or pulling out on me at night, I also have no less than 5 rear lights and 3 front lights, one of the front lights is also as bright as a scooter head light or brighter so I can see potholes and stuff before I hit them and that is because many drivers don't LOOK for anything with less than 2 headlights or 2 rear lights because when you're in a car, the only things that pose a danger to you is anything of a similar size or bigger unless you happen to drive a car made of paper, it needs drilling into the heads of drivers while they're learning, to always keep vulnerable road users in mind.

May be you should keep your push bike to the cycle lanes then and stay off the busy roads where there are pot holes, then you can't blame the road tax paying driver for mindless careless accidents which swerving cyclist cause with there flashing led driver blinding lights, and there road hogging positions on the road because they don't want to ride to close to the edge just incase they hit another pot hole, some motor vehicle drivers do cause some accidents, but remember its not just motor vehicles out there on the roads.

william1603 wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

william1603 wrote:
That's a fair point, but not all drivers are reckless or careless, and on such a junction at that time of night where vizabilty is less that perfect, traveling at 70mph, whilst checking your blind spot, and changing lanes, then all of a sudden you are faced with a very small single rear light of a moped traveling at 30mph, (not sure if she was wearing a highviz vest or not, but I do think all bike riders should) the other driver may not have had any where or time to do anything. At the grand age of 16 I personally don't think you have enough road knollage to ride on that sort of road.

Please, if a police officer on a motorbike wearing FULL highviz can still get hit, what good would a highviz vest do to slower riders? I've got reflective straps on my bike and bag, but I still get morons passing me way too close or pulling out on me at night, I also have no less than 5 rear lights and 3 front lights, one of the front lights is also as bright as a scooter head light or brighter so I can see potholes and stuff before I hit them and that is because many drivers don't LOOK for anything with less than 2 headlights or 2 rear lights because when you're in a car, the only things that pose a danger to you is anything of a similar size or bigger unless you happen to drive a car made of paper, it needs drilling into the heads of drivers while they're learning, to always keep vulnerable road users in mind.

May be you should keep your push bike to the cycle lanes then and stay off the busy roads where there are pot holes, then you can't blame the road tax paying driver for mindless careless accidents which swerving cyclist cause with there flashing led driver blinding lights, and there road hogging positions on the road because they don't want to ride to close to the edge just incase they hit another pot hole, some motor vehicle drivers do cause some accidents, but remember its not just motor vehicles out there on the roads.

Firstly, cyclists DON'T have to use any cycle infrastructure, secondly, drivers don't pay "road tax" as it was abolished in 1937 by Winston Churchill, what you actually pay is VED which is an emissions tax, cyclists have no emissions so therefore we pay no VED, it's the same with hybrids, electric vehicles, horses, Human Powered Vehicles, vehicles that produce 100g of CO2 per Km or less, emergency vehicles, royalty, construction vehicles and government vehicles, non of which pay VED and cyclists swerve because of potholes and sunken drains, sometimes it's to avoid drains where the slots are arranged like tram lines along the road, such drains catch bike wheels and throw riders off, the reason cyclists have LED lights is because that's what is available, you'd be hard pushed to find halogen lights anymore and cyclists don't hog the road just because they don't want to be by the curb, it's for safety, as taught by bikability and recommended by the Institute of Advanced Motorists and several other motoring organisations including those attended by professional drivers, it is good practice to ride in the middle of the lane on approach to junctions, roundabouts, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, when you're almost matching or are matching the speed of traffic and on dual carriageways but yes, most Road Traffic Incidents are caused by motorists, a few are caused by other road users.

william1603 wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

william1603 wrote:
That's a fair point, but not all drivers are reckless or careless, and on such a junction at that time of night where vizabilty is less that perfect, traveling at 70mph, whilst checking your blind spot, and changing lanes, then all of a sudden you are faced with a very small single rear light of a moped traveling at 30mph, (not sure if she was wearing a highviz vest or not, but I do think all bike riders should) the other driver may not have had any where or time to do anything. At the grand age of 16 I personally don't think you have enough road knollage to ride on that sort of road.

Please, if a police officer on a motorbike wearing FULL highviz can still get hit, what good would a highviz vest do to slower riders? I've got reflective straps on my bike and bag, but I still get morons passing me way too close or pulling out on me at night, I also have no less than 5 rear lights and 3 front lights, one of the front lights is also as bright as a scooter head light or brighter so I can see potholes and stuff before I hit them and that is because many drivers don't LOOK for anything with less than 2 headlights or 2 rear lights because when you're in a car, the only things that pose a danger to you is anything of a similar size or bigger unless you happen to drive a car made of paper, it needs drilling into the heads of drivers while they're learning, to always keep vulnerable road users in mind.

May be you should keep your push bike to the cycle lanes then and stay off the busy roads where there are pot holes, then you can't blame the road tax paying driver for mindless careless accidents which swerving cyclist cause with there flashing led driver blinding lights, and there road hogging positions on the road because they don't want to ride to close to the edge just incase they hit another pot hole, some motor vehicle drivers do cause some accidents, but remember its not just motor vehicles out there on the roads.

Watch this for another reason cyclists don't always use cycle lanes and take note of the illegally parked CARS.

http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=w5zmW0dNO
-0