TWO of the Isle of Wight's roads have been named in a list of the ten most dangerous in the country.

The roads are the A3054, which connects Freshwater and Ryde via Newport, including Forest Road, and the A3055, which stretches between the two towns via the south coast and includes the Military Road and Beaper Shute.

Island Roads stated they had been working to improve road safety, but clarified that specific road safety schemes or new additions to the highway still fall under the scope of the Isle of Wight Council.

It said the Highways PFI contract does not cover this.

A statement from Island Roads said: "Through the Highway Improvement Partnership, Island Roads has since 2013 undertaken an Islandwide programme of activity to upgrade the network to meet the required safety standards.

"This work has included the upgrade of parapets, new and extended vehicle restraint barriers, better road markings and traffic signs, renewed high-friction resurfacing, upgraded traffic and pedestrian crossings and a general and significant improvement in road quality.

"Specific road safety schemes sit outside of the scope of the PFI and are agreed and funded by the IW Council. Island Roads maintains a database of all road collisions resulting in injury and make recommendations to the IW Council where road safety could be improved."

The list ranked Britain’s top ten persistently higher risk rural roads from 2012-14 and 2015-17, and was published as part of a report by The Road Safety Foundation and Ageas Insurance.

The Island Roads statement continued: "There are many reasons why collisions occur. Driver error is by far the most common factor and, unfortunately, it is not possible to remove all risks by engineering solutions alone.

"Improved road safety is achieved through a combination of engineering, enforcement and education. Island Roads is an active member of the Road Safety Forum, which includes representatives from the police, fire and rescue, road safety education and the ambulance service.

"The Road Safety Forum will continue to look at all options to improve road safety across the Island’s road network. Island Roads will also continue to support the IW Council in its application for funding for road safety initiatives."

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