The island’s roads are safe, according to an MHK.

Department of Home Affairs member Dr Alex Allinson made the statement as the government came under fire for the time it is taking to produce a new road safety strategy.

He said the strategy would be published next year but was unable to give a more specific timescale when asked to do so in Tynwald last week.

Bill Shimmins (Middle) said: ’The daily lives of many constituents in Middle are being restricted and in some cases blighted, by road safety concerns.’

He called for confirmation that previously promised ’safe systems’ methodology would be used for the strategy.

Dr Allinson said the strategy would use the safe systems approach but added: ’I am sorry that his constituents live apparently in a state of fear.

’The reality is that since 1998 there has been a 46% reduction in road fatalities in this island.

’This island is a safe place to use our roads.’

He added: ’One of the benefits of the strategy itself is that it is evidence-based, it looks into the actual facts that people sometimes misinterpret.’

Dr Allinson said the strategy was the result of a ’collaborative’ approach across government departments.

Collisions

But Mr Shimmins argued: ’A number of residents will take issue with his statement that our roads are a safe place, especially when you look at the benchmarking of KSI (killed or seriously injured) collisions versus similar neighbouring jurisdictions, that just simply does not hold water,’ he argued.

He pointed out the chief constable’s annual report revealed a 29% increase in driving offences.

’Does that indicate that our roads are a safe place?’

Dr Allinson was in no mood to back down.

’I stand by my assertion that we do have safe roads,’ he said.

’When you look at the total KSIs they are looking across 12 months and involve some of the motorsports events that we have in this island, which unfortunately, because of their very nature, skew the total numbers of people injured and killed on our roads.’

The increase in driving offences was a testament to ’better law enforcement’ rather than poor driving.

Priorities

Dr Allinson said that ’additional resources’ would assist the effectiveness of the strategy but conceded that it would be up against ’many competing priorities’.

He added that he was not aware if any of the £3.8 million allocated the active travel strategy would be allocated to the road safety strategy.