Road fatalities (Admin discussions)

Thu 30 Aug 2012, 09:12

Agreed, close this thread down asap.

Thu 30 Aug 2012, 09:02

Seconded for closing and removing, especially some comments. Some people jump straight on the speed blame wagon. It seems a tragic natural accident. IMHO, more problems are caused by drivers dithering and not driving well, rather than speed on it's own.

Thu 30 Aug 2012, 06:11

Please close this we do not know how or why the Lady died there could be family reading this and a one person crusade putting the blame on to others speeding is wrong.

Wed 29 Aug 2012, 21:52

the lady in the accident on friday night was taken ill at the wheel there was no other car involed in this.

Wed 29 Aug 2012, 20:01

No one can deny that there are drivers that simply drive too fast on our nearby roads. It's just too sad. Maybe this poor women was scared by another driver, driving too fast - in front or behind. Please stop making excuses and slow down. As Charlie says one person getting killed is too many on our roads. Put it this way, dangerous driving is the same as murder. There's been 6 people killed within 4 miles on these roads in two years.

Wed 29 Aug 2012, 19:53

Whilst it is extremely sad that anyone has died as a result of a crash, it should be noted that according to the Witney Gazette, the driver in Monday accident in Finstock was a 66-year old woman and the police believe that no other vehicle was involved, so I don't think this latest tragedy can be blamed on 'boy-racers' or anyone speeding.

Wed 29 Aug 2012, 18:16

Google "road traffic fatality map" and then once located, type in any postcode you wish.
Statistics are all very well and too many people take the view that all is well if crime, road fatalities etc etc show year by year decreases.
My main gripe is that we live in a reasonably quiet part of Oxfordshire and we should not have the high numbers of fatalities that have been recorded.
Even if one death is recorded per annum, this is one death too many and we should not rest on our laurels if this, for example, is half the number of the previous year. Try explaining this "statistical improvement" to the relatives of the victim.
The speed at which a very high proportion of people drive is too fast and more than once, innocent people have been wiped out on their way to Woodstock, Witney or Chippy.
You have half a chance of survival at the Bull junction if you follow the Highway Code in respect of crossing the road but no chance at all on say the Witney Road if a boy racer takes a bend too fast and his car ends up on your front seat!!
Even if there were no deaths over the past year I would still raise the issue of the bad driving and excessive speeding that I have seen.

Tue 28 Aug 2012, 15:48

Here goes: first of all, I could not find the map on the BBC website, so can't comment on that right now. However, if you follow the link www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/sites/default/files/folders/documents/roadsandtransport/safety/casualtysummary2011.pdf you can download Oxfordshire County Council's summary of road traffic accident data for last year. One of the first points that you see is that there were fewer traffic deaths (26) in the county as a whole in 2011 than there have been in any year since 1974. There were four traffic deaths in West Oxfordshire. Clearly, these figures don't specify the circumstances, and it would certainly be worrying if West Oxon had more fatalities than, say, Cherwell, since we don't have much of the motorway or A34 within the district.

I am not sure that it is fair to tar all of Oxfordshire's drivers with the same brush. Driving in Charlbury or Chippy is as different from driving in Oxford as it is from driving in London. I do not have chapter and verse information on the various accidents (fatal and non-fatal) that have occurred around here in the past two or three years, but it would appear that going too fast around corners is one possible common thread. Whether the introduction of the 50 limit on the country roads in the area has had any influence on the accident potential, I don't know, but given that it is not policed, my guess is no.

Actually, I am less concerned about being wiped out on my way to Woodstock, Witney or Chippy than being flattened by a vehicle that has not stopped at the STOP sign between The Bull and the Corner House. That, to my mind, is the most dangerous place for pedestrians in Charlbury, and it is a matter of extreme surprise to me that no-one has yet been added to the county's fatality list right there.

Tue 28 Aug 2012, 13:28

I have just noticed the "Road Fatality" signs at Finstock and would like to raise a subject that appears to be largely ignored within the Forum.
Contributors are quick to complain about "loss of Broadband", "Wilderness noise" etc, but a far more important subject and one that urgently needs to be dealt with by the Local Authority and the Police is the excessive numbers of deaths on our roads.
For information on the numbers, go to the BBC web site and refer to the map detailing the numbers and dates of the fatalities (you will need to enter the postcode). The numbers are quite astonishing!
The subject of the quality of driving in Oxfordshire is a regular topic of discussion with my friends and neighbours and the overwhelming conclusion is that it is poor and the speed at which people drive is bordering on lunacy at times.
I have lost count of the times I have witnessed acts of sheer stupidity by drivers of all ages; be they boy racers, busy executives in their upmarket cars on there way to work or young mothers in 4x4's on school runs with one hand on there mobile phones.
I have driven in most major towns and cities within the UK and throughout Europe (Spain, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Croatia)and without question, the drivers in Oxfordshire are the worst I have encountered.
Comments please.