A shocked Ramsgate mum-of-two is calling for calming measures and monitoring of the Royal Harbour Approach road after witnessing a crash involving eight young people last night (August 6).
Police, four ambulances and two paramedic cars attended the scene just after 11pm. Four of the youngsters were taken to hospital for treatment. Their injuries were not life threatening.
Jo Mapp, who is the liaison officer with community organisation Project MotorHouse, says youngsters are using the road, and nearby Grange Road, as a race track – putting their own lives and those of others at risk.
Last night she was in her camper van at the Western Undercliff road when she heard the crash and witnessed the aftermath.
‘I heard an almighty bang’
She said: “I was in my camper reading and my van shook as one car went by. I had a bad feeling – I hear it all the time when I’m there but I just felt in danger. I started to get myself together to drive home just after 11pm and the car came back.
“I heard an almighty bang and then there were young people everywhere. They were known to each other so I am not sure if they were racing or had just arranged to meet. It was horrible.
“One of the girls dads showed up. The girls seemed shocked but not badly injured. Two boys were talking jibberish and worried me as one of them was unconscious for quite a while.
“I suspect that one of them had some head injury as he was so confused. I had to keep repeating what happened and letting him know where he was.
“That road, like most of Ramsgate is just ignored and unmanaged. It’s adrenaline gold for young boys. Just last week I called an ambulance for a drunk 15 year old that had her stomach pumped. It’s a Mecca for young people because it’s hidden away
“The road needs speed humps or barriers to stop it becoming a race track/death trap.”
Police and ambulance were called to the scene.
A South East Coast Ambulance spokesman said: “We were called to reports of a collision on Royal Harbour Approach, shortly after 11pm. Ambulance crews in four ambulances and two cars attended the scene.
“Four patients were taken to hospital for further treatment. Three patients were taken to William Harvey Hospital and one patient was taken to QEQM hospital. Injuries at the time were not thought to be life threatening.”
Ward councillor Becky Wing said she would like a 20mph speed limit across Ramsgate and will be contacting Kent County Council portfolio holder Mike Whiting to discuss the issue.
County Councillor Karen Constantine has this morning written to Kent Police and the police commissioner to ask for urgent action to ensure appropriate staff are deployed to the area. She has also raised the issue of youth facilities.
Cllr Constantine, , who lost her 19 year old year old son Aaron in 2001 in a road traffic accident, says she is passionate about promoting road safety and ensuring young people have youth services.
In her letter she adds: “That this risky activity is taking place on Royal Harbour Approach, ‘hidden away’, without any routine police patrols is horrendous. We need urgent action to ensure we deploy appropriate staff to this area. We can not afford loss of life.
“We have a real lack of youth provision in Ramsgate, and no youth projects in place to assist out young people to understand the dangers of traffic or to develop motorcycle and car safety awareness.”
A Kent Police spokesperson said: “Kent Police was called to a two-vehicle collision in Royal Harbour Approach, Ramsgate at around 11.10pm.
“Officers attended the scene along with the South East Coast Ambulance Service following reported injuries. The cars were recovered at around 2am.”
If they are going to race! a 20 mph limit will not stop the Councillor! as obviously racing is illegal anyway, and if they were racing they would be breaking the law any how, so please explain your knee jerk logic??
She may well answer when you learn how to construct an understandable sentence, Woody.
A 20mph zone from westcliff to eastcliff with speed humps ASAP.
There is a lot of spending in Ramsgate . A BM W hit me on Southwood road. Last year . This road is so crowded with parked cars it needs care when driving. None of Ramsgate roads seem to b. Policed. The town needs some attention from road safety.
Last night a silver Astra, come speeding down southwood road (I live here) at about 11.45. I was just shitting my curtains and they clearly mused the junction down the side of my house they ripped the handbreak up and spun 360 just missing our car by about 2cm. It was so so close. Yet they carried on speeding.
Auto correct… shutting* missed*
Twenty mph zones will NOT stop these people speeding. If people are disobeying the 30mph speed limit why would they suddenly stop because it’s 20mph??
The twenty is plenty brigade has an agenda and rather than listening to the many they are steamrolling towards 20mph and pandering to the nanny/anti car brigade.
If the police actually policed the roads then perhaps people would stop speeding but turning Thanet into a giant car park is not the answer.
By making people’s journeys longer and slower you are also increasing pollution because you then travel in lower gears burning more fuel for longer.
Woody is correct, Trying to lower the speed limit is a knee jerk reaction. The vast majority of Thanet residents do not break the speed limit but will be made to suffer if the Politically correct brigade get their own way.
Let’s be honest. There are loads of areas that need speed cameras or traffic calming measures such as the tunnel underpass where this incident happened, St. Lawrence high street (where 30 apparently means 45), park road (by the flint wall for Ellington park), dumpton park drive across both halves, and many other roads around the area.
Speeding is an epidemic around here, along with a high proportion of people that refuse to stop at zebra crossings and the like.
Woody is right, it’s a joke making Ramsgate a 20mph town when people can’t even manage 30. Slap more traffic calming across the main straight roads and you’ll possibly see less speeding.
The “Twenty is Plenty” supporters do indeed have an agenda, a laudable one. They want cars in towns to drive at a speed which will not cause serious harm or even death to other road users.
There’s nothing wrong with being anti-car.
Marva, these boy racers don’t care if the speed limit is 20, 30, 40 etc they just want to race regardless of the consequences and judging by your past posts you wouldn’t blame them anyway Because you don’t believe in punishing people.
The AA and many other organisations have proved that lowering the speed limit also increases air pollution so the lives saved from lowering speed limits are negated by the added deaths caused by the extra pollution.
I would also hazard a guess that the vast majority of Thanet’s population would argue against a blanket 20mph zone across Thanet.
Ever since this site had its last push of twenty is plenty I have asked a lot of people of their views and the twenty is plenty brigade lag well behind the keep it at thirty vote.
The only way to stop speeding is to introduce more traffic cameras and have an active police presence on our the roads.
Speed humps are ineffective because they also increase traffic pollution just like lowering the speed limit.
Don’t punish the vast majority of residents and increase their journey times and pollution levels by introducing a speed limit that will only be ignored by the dangerous drivers in the first place.
Marva, again, you just don’t understand. Like all of your other comments. You must vote Labour and support Remain, oh yeah, because you don’t believe in democracy either.
I do support remaining in the EU but I don’t think that is relevant to the subject of this article. Please tell me what you think I do not understand re speeding.
Marva there’s just no point trying to talk to you or explain anything, because like every other article and all your other comments, you just don’t understand. I laugh at the ignorance of every comment you put on here. Probably like everyone else.
Andrew, why are you being so personal to Marva? She is expressing her opinions for one, and not talking politics for two! I think it is you that has the problem, showing political bias when not required in this discussion. Perhaps you need to look at the actions and understandings on your own doorstep first. Stop being so rude, not big, not clever.
I also voted remain and who cares about democracy.
Can’t this road be locked at night. No access to port required so why is it open?
Last year, almost 5 people every day were killed on the UK’s roads, and many more seriously injured.
Injuries sustained are a consequence of (amongst other things) the speed of the impact of the vehicles involved .
It really isn’t rocket science to suggest that reducing the speed limit, especially in the urban setting, will lead to fewer fatalities on our roads.
Not necessarily Tony, Somerset recorded higher fatalities on their 20mph zones as did Hampshire. Manchester abandoned their 20mph zones because they made zero difference to fatalities and speeds actually increased in some areas. Portsmouth also recorded more fatalities on their 20mph zones.
The 20 is plenty team will argue about the safety aspects but all their figures rely on people abandoning their cars and taking public transportation.
Near schools 20 is plenty, but a blanket ban on speeds over 20 is an expensive waste of taxpayers money, not to mention the extra fatalities due to the extra pollution it causes.
Statistics can be warped to suit anyone’s requirements and the 20 is plenty anti car squad are very good at bending them to their needs.
“Statistics can be warped to suit anyone’s requirements and […] are very good at bending them to their needs”
Indeed.
Nevertheless, it is still the case that the consequences of a high speed collision are likely to be more severe than a low speed crash. You see, kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the velocity; a car going half as fast as another has 1/4 of the KE.
“not to mention the extra fatalities due to the extra pollution it causes.”
If you’re really ‘Concerned’ about the 40,000 premature deaths each year caused by air pollution, then you’d be arguing to scrap all cars
I use public transport. Not transportation, which has a different connotation.
There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with being anti-car considering the damage which the use of the private car has caused to health, the environment in general, and town centres, such as Ramsgate’s. Public transport needs to be very much improved.
You could live on Sark, no cars there bye!!
I do support remaining in the EU but I don’t think that is relevant to the subject of this article. Please tell me what you think I do not understand re speeding.
Please don’t make absurd comments about this serious subject.
Boy races speeding around Ramsgate has got a lot worse in recent years, I hope to see 20mph zones with speed humps ASAP.
Wondering if it’s the same lot racing around nixon about the same time or is it possible another car was involved and was trying to get away with police in persuit. As most of us know if they want to drive fast and /or under the influence of drugs or drink then no matter how many speed bumps or calming barriers are put up they will go as fast and take as many risks as possible to get away most will not have tax or insurance on them they couldn’t afford it insurance for the young is increasing all the time in thanet you can tell by the amount of crashes.
Either there are two separate Andrews commenting,
or one who switches unpredictably between two points of view which are almost completely incompatible.
Like Ton- thanks for your support,Ton!- I really don’t know why one of these Andrews
is being so rude. Why not just set out his own points of view logically? Obviously not everyone is going to agree with me on everything but it wouldn’t occur to me to tell people to move next to Spaghetti Junction or whatever the opposite of Sark is. (Except in irony.)
There’s two Andrews, it’s also funny how both you and Don are probably the same person. Plus you both voted remain and both said (above) you don’t believe in democracy.
I have never said I don’t believe in democracy. Could you please quote me on that?
Actually, I didn’t vote in the referendum at all.
I’m certainly not Don-why would I write under a pseudonym when I’m already writing under my own name?
They race along Northdown Road in Cliftonville in the evenings and late into the night too. Seems it is a problem all over Thanet and beyond.
Yes Kent resident it is worse in the Leeds and around Tyne and weir areas have been watching filming of both areas over last year and first 4 months of this year and compared to the 4 previous years it is almost twice as bad. Each area has a pool car which the low life’s can use when they want. It’s getting like that around here and there are kids as young as 12 trying to drive in margate and Ramsgate especially after a few largers or a joint they up the anti more risks taken see who can get from a to b the quicker. Worse but only just are the moped boys who race around dropping off drugs. Thanet is /has going /gone the same as most of the cities and large towns throughout the UK. More police would be better but why would anyone want to be a police officer and get cut up like the officer did in East London. They have a hard job to do on one hand they are biased and do F–k all on the other hand they are punched spat at kicked stabbed and even shot at remember a police officer is just like you or me a human being who does what he does to protect us in the main. And they want to go home to possibly a wife, children, a mum or dad brother, sister. Yes a human being is what each one is no different to you or me.
Unfortunately big Chris a lot of people now side with the villains and criminals rather than the law.
You are right about the mopeds in Thanet, there is an organised network of teenage drug dealers using mopeds to push their drugs to school children, these sick dealers are selling to 13 and 14 year olds, something needs to be done to get these pricks of the streets before the next generation of kids are junkies, not to mention the fact they are drug driving. The worse thing imo is the fact their parents condone the drug driving and selling drugs to adolescents.