Community Road Watch provides road users with an online form where they can fill in details of anything they see on the roads that they feel merits reporting.
The group said the aim is to build a clearer picture of road safety issues, but emphasised that it was not a substitute for reporting incidents to the police.
‘Official collision statistics are important, but they do not always reflect the experiences people have every day on our roads,’ said Living Streets treasurer Dani Bennett.
‘We know that many near misses and less serious incidents go unreported. Community Road Watch gives islanders the opportunity to share those experiences so we can build a more complete picture of road safety across Guernsey.’
She said the group did not want to wait for serious incidents to happen before concerns could be identified.
‘By gathering information about recurring issues, locations and trends, we hope to identify warning signs early and support informed discussions about making our roads safer for everyone.’
Living Streets would like to hear about near misses, unsafe road user behaviour, recurring hazards and other road safety concerns that might not be reflected in official collision figures.
It said that near misses and less serious incidents can be forgotten or undocumented and that leaves gaps in the overall understanding of road safety in the island.
Deputy Ross Le Brun, also a noted road safety campaigner, has also recently made similar calls for people to report incidents to build a stronger picture of safety on the roads.
‘Most dangerous interactions don’t result in a collision,’ he said.
‘A child stepping into a gateway to avoid being hit by a large vehicle driving along the pavement is an incident. A pedestrian having to press themselves against a wall while a van passes is an incident. I don’t think we should wait for the collision statistics to become sufficiently alarming before taking the issue seriously.’
Information collected through the form will be used to highlight:
Locations where concerns are repeatedly reported;
Times and circumstances associated with incidents;
Common issues affecting those walking, riding, and driving;
Emerging trends that may warrant further discussion or investigation.
No action will be taken against anyone based on reports sent in on the form and the information will be used to develop a ‘broader evidence base’ which Living Streets said would help inform future conversations about road safety with the relevant bodies.
Anyone who has personal experience relating to a road safety concern is asked to provide as much detail as possible when they complete the form.
The form can be found at https://bit.ly/4hBvlXU
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