Keith Sisman Upwood Road Safety Group Graham Hillman George Munford Cambridgeshire Huntingdon
Upwood Road Safety Group
Working together to make OUR roads safer
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Last June, 2004, Katie Blake (17) and Mark Chamberlain (23) died when Anthony White's high powered Mitsubishi FTO left the road after colliding with a vehicle coming the other way. The other driver was seriously hurt, as was White and his partner Julie.
This pictures shows flowers and a heart with other memorabilia at the scene of the tragedy. The wire fencing is still split after allowing the Police helicopter to airlift causalities to hospital.
White has been given a six year custodial sentence, plus a driving ban, but interestingly he will not be required to undergo any further driver improvement scheme.
White was over the alcohol limit and much has been made of this. He was also driving too fast and more importantly on the wrong side of the road on a blind bend when he met opposing traffic. White and his passengers are not the first to have crashed on these bends, nor the last.
The corners leaving Bury on the C111 are notorious for accidents. We (URSG) wonder if it is now time for the local authorities to have double white lines through the corners where there are blind spots. A lower speed limit and better signs. Motorists rarely cross a solid white line. It would make this terrible tragedy much worse if the opportunity to make this road safer is to be ignored. With two further crashes in March 2005 alone (we are only half way through the month) on these corners, it is now time for the authorities to act and without delay!
Cambridgeshire County Council also this last week (week ending 12 March 05) publicly admitted to a 17% increase in deaths and serious injuries on the county’s roads in the last year. The U.R.S.G. spokesperson said, “It is about time the Cambridgeshire County Council looked seriously at the options it chooses to implement across the county and target the speed and casualty reduction measures in areas where they are truly needed the most.”
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For further information on advanced driving visit;
For further information on local advanced driving groups visit;
http://www.cambsadvanceddrivers.freeserve.co.uk/
http://www.iam.org.uk/groups/peterborough/
All offer free ongoing training using the Police (Roadcraft) system of driving, and optional test by an examiner who holds the police advanced drivers certificate (test to be paid for).