Reports from Diss Mercury (www.dissmercury.co.uk)
Concern over safety of A140 following young mother’s death
By Adam Gretton Friday, November 30, 2012
Calls have been made to improve safety on a stretch of a busy A-road following the death of a young mother in a crash on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.
Jessica Winterborn, from Harleston, died of her injuries in hospital on Wednesday following a collision between her car and a truck on the A140 at Brome, near Diss.
The 24-year-old was driving a Peugeot 306 when the crash occurred between her car and a Mercedes LGV near the junction of the B1077 at about 4.15pm on Tuesday. Her baby, who was in the car, was not injured and the driver of the truck was uninjured.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing and at this stage there is no suggestion that speeding was a factor in the crash, a police spokesman said yesterday. However, the latest collision on the A140 at Brome has prompted local councillors to call for the nearby speed camera to be reinstated after it was switched off by Suffolk Police Authority earlier this year.
They have requested that Tim Passmore, the new police and crime commissioner for Suffolk, to reverse the decision to deactivate the fixed speed camera.
Janet Norman-Philips, clerk of Redlingfield Parish council, said: “Redlingfield, Horham and Athelington councils, along with other local parish and town councils have been campaigning for several months now for the speed safety camera on the A140 at Brome to be turned back on as we were convinced that without it, this accident blackspot would claim more lives or cause serious injury.”
“Sadly is now seems that our worst fears have come to pass with the tragic death of a young mother. We believe this accident should never have happened and we also believe that had the camera been turned back on, that the chances of this death occurring would have been vastly reduced.”
Parish councillors say that there have been up to nine death or serious injury crashes on the A140 at Brome since 2000. However, Suffolk Police Authority said there had been one slight injury crash when they decided to turn off the fixed speed camera.
Guy McGregor, cabinet member for roads and transport at Suffolk County Council, said the county council was looking at reducing the speed limit on the A140 at Brome to improve safety.
“Because there is no longer an active speed camera, we are looking to bring the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph in that area.”
“The fundamental problem is that it is a considerably significant road from Ipswich to Norwich. Fundamentally it [the A140] needs radical improvement and when it was a trunk road there were plans to make it dual carriageway. This particular road is inadequate in modern terms and if money is not available to make it up to standard we need to make it as safe as possible,” he said.
A spokesman for Suffolk Police said investigations were continuing into the collision.
“Reducing the amount of people who are killed and seriously injured on our roads is a priority for Suffolk Constabulary’s Roads Policing Team. Work is continuously done with partners to identify areas that are susceptible to collisions and to consider and inform possible action that can then be taken. This may include education, enforcement or road engineering options,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Danny Ormes at Suffolk Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Team on 101.
Young mother named following fatal A140 crash
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A young mother who died in a crash on the A140 on the Norfolk-Suffolk border has been named by police today.
Emergency services were called to the scene of the collision at around 4.15pm on Tuesday following a report that a Peugeot 306 car and a Mercedes LGV had been in collision on the A140 at Brome, near Diss, near to the junction of the B1077.
The driver of the Peugeot has this afternoon been named as Jessica Winterborn, aged 24, from Harleston, in south Norfolk.
She was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and died of her injuries on Wednesday. Her baby, who was also taken to hospital to be checked over, was not injured and the truck driver was uninjured.
The A140 was closed for several hours following the crash.
Suffolk Police are renewing their appeal for witnesses and would like to hear from anyone who was travelling along the A140 who saw the vehicles involved prior to, or when the collision occurred.
Calls should be made to PC Danny Ormes at Suffolk Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Team on 101.
Mother and baby in fatal collision on A140 at Brome near Diss
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic collision involving a young mother and her baby on the A140 near Diss.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 4.15pm yesterday, following a report that a Peugeot 306 car and a Mercedes LGV had been in collision on the A140 at Brome, near to the junction of the B1077.
The female driver of the Peugeot, aged in her 20s and from the Diss area, was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital with serious injuries but sadly died earlier today.
Her baby, who was also taken to hospital to be checked over, is said to be fine.
The male lorry driver was uninjured.
A section of the road was closed while emergency services dealt with the incident and the vehicles involved were recovered.
Police would like to hear from anyone who was travelling along the A140 who saw the vehicles involved prior to the accident, or when the collision occurred.
Calls should be made to PC Danny Ormes at Suffolk Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Team on 101.
Fears axing A140 speed camera in north Suffolk could lead to more accidents
By Dominic Bareham, senior reporter Monday, August 20, 2012
Fears have been raised a decision to switch off a speed camera on a busy section of the A140 in north Suffolk could lead to an increase in the number of road accidents.
Janet Norman-Philips, clerk of Redlingfield Parish Council, has written to Joanna Spicer, chairman of Suffolk Police Authority, asking why the camera on the A140 at Brome has been switched off, describing the section of road covered by the camera as “lethal” and the decision to axe it as encouraging motorists to speed up.
On Monday, she told the EDP: “There have been deaths and serious injuries in crashes in this location, but clearly these deaths don’t count. From our point of view, traffic has sped up on that road since the cameras were cut out.”
The Roadside Board, the partnership between Suffolk County Council, police and other agencies, decided earlier this year to keep two cameras on the A12 at Benhall and A140 at Coddenham, but axe cameras on the A1144 at Normanston Drive, Lowestoft, London Road at Brandon, A1304 Hamilton Road at Newmarket and the A140 at Brome following a review into which cameras were most effective in reducing accidents.
The cameras were initially switched off last year after the county council pulled £1m of funding and the police decided they were too expensive for them to run.
However, the cameras were immediately switched on again pending the review into which cameras should remain operational.
In her letter, Ms Norman-Philips said she was concerned about the manner in which data was collected on accidents in areas covered by the cameras, which showed that at Brome there had only been one minor collision during the nine years since the camera was introduced.
She said the figures for the Brome camera covered a short distance then the statistics for other cameras and did not include two dangerous junctions just outside the 200m radius at Rectory Road, Brome and the B1077 “Devil’s Handbasin” where there had been a number of serious accidents, including fatal collisions.
However, councillor Keith Patience, Waveney district councillor for the Normanston area of Lowestoft, was slightly less concerned about the loss of the Normanston Drive camera because a nearby rail crossing caused traffic to build up, which helped to slow vehicles down.
He said the only problem was traffic pulling out of the Higher Drive junction and turning right, saying he would prefer traffic to have to turn left instead and go round the Peto Way roundabout before returning along Normanston Drive.
Reg Sylvester, chairman of Brandon Town Council, cited similar reasons for not opposing the axing of the London Road camera in Brandon because heavy traffic on that stretch of road helped to regulate drivers’ speeds.
He added: “It has never been a bad place for accidents. My concern there is that the camera could have been better used elsewhere in the town, such as Crown Street or Thetford Road.”
Joanna Spicer, the police authority’s chairman, said: “All speed enforcement in the county will be discussed at Suffolk County Council’s next Road Safety Partnership meeting in September and the outcome will be fed into a review of the county’s speed camera arrangements, which is being carried out by the constabulary later in the year. The concerns of Redlingfield Parish Council will be considered as part of this review.”
She said reducing speeding was still a main priority for the police.