Fatal accidents involving students

URGENT calls have been made for safety improvements to a road which has seen double tragedy with the deaths of two students in less than a year.

A 20-year-old Essex University undergraduate was killed after he was struck by a silver Vauxhall Astra car as he crossed Clingoe Hill on Tuesday afternoon.

It has now emerged the parents of another student, 22-year-old Richard Watson, who died on the same stretch of road last June, had been campaigning for action on the A133,

His parents, John and Jenny, who live in Norfolk, have met university and Highways Agency officials to discuss their concerns about the busy road.

Last night, Mr Watson spoke of his shock that another fatal accident had happened on the road.

“We've had numerous meetings with the police and the highways but nobody would listen,” he said.

“Much to our shock, it has happened again. We've tried to help the university but at the end of the day all we can hope for in all of this is that they do something to prevent something happening again.”

There is an underpass which the students can use but questions have now been raised about why people are choosing to cross the two dual carriageways instead.

Mr Watson described the underpass as “horrendous” and said a “terrific amount” of students tried to cross the road.

He offered his sympathy to the parents of the 20-year-old killed in the accident, who police said came from the Yeovil area in Somerset.

“From our experience it's just going to get worse over the weeks. They need every bit of support they can get,” said Mr Watson.

“All we've got left in life is to try to prevent what we see as a traffic hazard to the students who live on the other side of the road.”

The Highways Agency said yesterday a number of options were being considered for the road, with any work likely to be done as part of the development of a new research park at the university which is starting soon.

A university spokeswoman said: “While the full circumstances of the accident are not yet known, the university has for some time been concerned about pedestrian safety on Clingoe Hill and met last month with the highways authority and the MP for Colchester to discuss possible improvements.

“We will renew our efforts to lobby for safety improvements on this stretch of road.”

She added: “It is a terrible tragedy that a young man's life has been cut so short, and the university sends its deepest condolences to his friends and family.”

And Julie Young, a Colchester borough councillor for the St Andrew's ward, which includes the underpass, said she would be looking into why people were not using the underpass and the safety issues, saying it was “something you can't ignore”.

She said: “I have asked for statistics regarding road traffic accidents and assaults that have happened in the locality and will discuss it at the next neighbourhood action panel.

“Despite the best efforts and improvements we have made, it does not look like students are prepared to use the subway.”

n Police investigating the accident, which happened in the Colchester-bound carriage at about 2.45pm, have asked for witnesses to contact them as soon as possible.

The driver of the car involved in the collision, an 86-year-old woman from the Colchester area, was taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries and shock.

A police spokesman said it was too early to say if any further action would be taken against her.

Source - ETD

To contact one of our specialist lawyers please call 0800 61 66 81, or use the contact details at the top left of this page.