Motorists are speeding or not noticing a crossing on the main road through Onchan, according to the district’s commissioners.

The commissioners held a meeting outside the Baptist Church on Main Road, Onchan, next to the pelican crossing – a road crossing with traffic lights operated by pedestrians – yesterday (Wednesday) to raise awareness of the problem.

They invited members of the public, pupils from Onchan primary school and Ashley Hill and the police road safety team.

Ross Phillips, clerk for Onchan Commissioners, explained that while there’s been a lot of social media coverage, parents have filmed incidents at the crossing to send to the police, who have then carried out enforcements against drivers.

He said: ‘Some residents send daily videos to the police and the Department of Infrastructure showing people not obeying the traffic signal and driving through the red light.

‘Nothing seems to be going anywhere so I’m trying to raise as much awareness of it as I can, so I contacted the police and they said we need to make people aware they’re not obeying the traffic lights.

‘Kids from Onchan school and Ashley Hill school came along too with their headteachers, and they’re affected daily by this as they’re always trying to get across there on their way to school. They often have to jump out the way of people not obeying the red light.’

Mr Phillips hopes that action will come from this meeting.

‘In the short term, the commissioners, police and DoI are going to try and put some measures in place on that crossing to make it more visible,’ he said.

‘In the long term there is rumour there could be a reduced speed limit in the village at some stage as well.

‘It’s not a case of if there’s going to be a accident, it’s a case of when there’s going to be an accident – it will happen sooner or later if action isn’t taken.’

He stressed that, as a driver, the crossing isn’t obvious to road users, adding: ‘People are driving straight through because they’re either speeding or not noticing the crossing at all.

‘The avenue is a bit tight there so people aren’t focusing on it.

‘As a driver, it’s not the most obvious. The DoI have spent a lot of time trying to make that crossing more visible and it hasn’t worked.

‘There are loads of signs but nothing’s changed. We’re hoping they’ll be able to move around some of the furniture to help as a result.’

This comes after parents called for a 20mph speed limit to be instated on the main road through Onchan last year, as many residents were dealing with near misses from cars speeding through the village and not stopping at pedestrian crossings. A group of parents called for a 20mph speed limit to be instated on the main road from Corkill’s Garage through to Lakeside in July last year.