Three British tourists have been killed in a motorcycling accident and another injured in Italy. The crash was a head-on collision with a truck and occurred as they were exiting a tunnel in Mezzolombardo, Trento.
The indication from early investigations seems to indicate that the Brits were on the wrong side of the road when the accident occurred and, as a result, police have indicated that they feel the motorcyclists may not have realised that it was a one way system.
The investigations seem to point to poor road markings and a local councillor, Bruno Firmani, acknowledged “We have had several complaints from motorists about the tunnel and the road in recent weeks. There is no doubt that the road is confusing.” Mr Firmani also indicated that he had filed ”a question with the local road agency about the signposting on that stretch of road.”
In the UK, the responsibility for maintaining road signs and markings usually falls to the local council. However trunk roads (‘A‘ roads) and motorways are the responsibility of the Highways Agency to maintain.
One of the primary responsibilities that they have – is to ensure that the roads that we use are as safe as possible. A failure to maintain roads would possibly lead to accusative fingers being pointed were someone to suffer a road traffic accident, with poorly maintained road markings a common complaint on roads. If this accident happened in the UK then there might be a case for a claim for injury being made against either the council or the Highways Agency.
Tragically it seems as though three lives have been lost due to a simple case of poor road markings which might easily have been rectified.
