The safety of a junction where a moped rider died has been called into question by Lichfield’s MP.
Benjamin Warrington, 24, died when he was hit by a lorry near the Streethay slip-road of the A38 in February 2012.
His sister Sophy has since launched an online petition calling for an improvement in the lighting of the junction.
However, in a letter to Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant, the Highways Agency have confirmed that there are no plans to work on the lighting on the stretch of road.
A spokesperson told the MP that the location had seen six incidents in five years – one serious and five slight – putting the location “towards the lower end” of the priority list for the Midlands.
Mr Fabricant said: “This is a disappointing response.
“I wonder how many will need to be killed before they consider installing lighting at this dark and dangerous junction?”
BSARA is pleased that Michael Fabricant MP and residents are voicing their concerns over the safety of the A38, and we have said so on our website. We are disappointed that Lichfield District Council’s draft Local Plan, which proposes building 750 homes in Streethay between Trent Valley railway station and the on-ramp to the A38, fails to specify any improvements either to the A38 roadway or to the junction.
Re lighting at Streethay
This response from the highways agency is ridiculous and iressponsilbe, it is not just a dangourous junction for motorists, but it is a cycle path and a route for people walking to Fradley industrial area where a lot of people living in Lichfield work, as was my Son Benjamin when he was killed.
There is also a pedestrain crossing just up from the junction with no lighting, who in their right minds would cross the road there! One death is too many.
There are streetlights all the way to and past Burton on this road which as far as I am concerned, not required. All we are asking for is for lights to be put up at any junction on this awful road.
I will be writing to the highways agency about their decision. How many deaths and accidents warrant a priority.
From a very dissapointed and greiving mother.
On behalf of the Beacon Street Residents’ Association (BSARA) I would like to express our deepest for the loss of your son Benjamin. Could you ask Sophy to put a link to the following web page on the Facebook appeal page?
http://www.beaconstreetara.org/local-issues/new-houses-infrastructure/a38-near-streethay-needs-a-safety-upgrade
If you email BSARA on [email protected] then we let you know of our attempts to get the District’s Local Plan to identify the improvements we need to our roads, say how they will be funded and when they will be delivered. We have written to the Highways Agency challenging their analysis and asking what solutions they propose.
The evidence clearly proves this is not a very dangerous junction yet you’d like resources diverted away from improvements to more serious accident spots to satisfy your incorrect perceptions of danger at this spot.
Any death like Benjamin’s is of course sad but using it to demand an immediate change where one is demonstrably not that necessary will divert resources away from areas where they could *better* prevent unnecessary deaths.
I’m afraid I agree with ‘Plop’, like most people I was extremely saddened by Ben’s death, but was he not on a motorcyle? There are thousands of miles of roads across the UK that do not have street-lighting, any one of them could be the location for a tragedy such as this, and many probably have been.
If there’s a trend of serious incidents on this stretch of road, I would support this campaign immediately, but the Highways Agency have already stated there have been very few incidents at this location and the details appear to point towards driver error, rather than environment.
Again, I reiterate my sympathy for your loss and I do not mean to trivialise Ben’s death in anyway whatsoever.
I’m sorry but one death really is one too many. It doesn’t get any more serious than someone losing their life. Airlines get (rightly) criticised for using the ‘Tombstone Imperative’ with regards to safety, and to argue the same here is totally wrong, in my opinion.
well plop Every death is unnecessary. What makes the highways decision more frustrating is the sections of the A38 that have no junctions/turns of any kind and are fully lit. Another excuse is they want to save energy but these long sections remain lit and are clealy not a requirement. Just 200 meters of lighting at the Streethay junction would make it a safer place.
I am unsure what Darryl means by ‘was he not on a motorcycle?’ does that mean he should have expected to have been killed when travelling on this form of transport. Most motorcycle accidents are caused by car/HGV drivers not paying attention.
Hi Hilary,
I was referring to the request for lighting. Although it would lighten the road to some degree, doesn’t street lighting benefit pedestrians, who are separated from the street traffic & the A38 as you move out of Streethay?
Irrespective, if you believe that a lack lighting was influential in what happened to your son, I wish you well in your campaign.
http://www.facebook.com/events/173281702790430/permalink/243159769135956/
Hi Andre this is the link for Sophy’s facebook petition. We now have over the requested 5000 names and will be submitting it to City Council soon in line with the year annivesary of Benjamins’ death.obviously the more names the better
Many thanks
Hi Hillary, Could you deliver a copy of the petition to the District Council as well? There will be a public inquiry into our Local Plan later this year or early next year. The Highways Agency have said that they will be attending. We want them to explain what they are going to do to improve the safety record of the A38 near Lichfield, when its going to happen and who is going to pay for it. It would help if you could deliver a copy of the facebook petition to the District Council as well.
Andre