Safe Speed Forums

Does anyone have any idea how an Escort of this age should stand up to side impact? My own car has side airbags, but I have no idea how much force is required to reduce the vehicle to that extent.

I suspect from having once written off an Escort Van at 25 mph, that it is actually very little, as the van was destroyed after I spun gently into a parked MGBGT in icy snow. The MG only suffered minor front end damage, where as the side of the van was crushed to make it impossible to open the door, or move the seat!

A6 death road speed camera was scrapped

By Phil Colemanand Chris Story

PLANS for a speed camera on the A6 were cancelled after the Government withdrew funding in the face of mounting public oppositionto the devices, police have revealed.

Instead, it was decided to lower the speed limit to 40mph.

Police chiefs say the camera would have saved lives.

Last Sunday six people, including a four-month old baby and an eight-year-old girl, died on the A6 near the Plumpton crossroads.

The accident, the cause of which is still under investigation, claimed the lives of 19-year-old learner driver Ricky Stott, his 21-year-old fiancee Sarah Wigham, and their baby son Luca.

Also in Mr Stott’s Ford Escort at the time of the accident on Father’s Day were Ricky’s sisters Kirsty Louise, 17, and eight-year-old Lindsey.

Sarah and Luca will be cremated on Monday at 11am in Carlisle. A service for Ricky, Kirsty and Lyndsey will be held next Wednesday at 11am at Penrith Methodist Church followed by burial at Penrith Cemetery.

A second motorist, 84-year-old Manchester man Stanley Critchley, who was driving a Toyota Prius, also died. His wife was in a critical condition.

Sixteen people have died on the A6 between Carlisle and Penrith in the last three years and this has prompted some villagers in Plumpton to claim that a roadside school playground could be the scene of another tragedy.

A new speed limit on either side of the Plumpton crossroads is due to come into force in July.

Despite the road’s shocking death toll, Superintendent Steve Turnbull said Cumbria’s roads death toll was cut by 25 per cent last year.

He said: “A camera was planned, and it could have been installed – we did all the measurements and it had approval from the Department for Transport.

“It would have been sited just a few hundred yards north of the accident scene. But the Government decided that there should be no further expansion of fixed camera sites after public pressure.

“But it would save lives – that’s a proven fact. All of the sites in Cumbria where we have mobile camera vans have seen a reduction in fatalities.

“The A6 is similar to many roads in Cumbria. It has long clear stretches with intermittent bends, junctions, etc. and has light traffic on it when compared with other parts of the country.”

Without commenting on the cause of Sunday’s accident, he said such accidents can happen to cars which are driving within the speed limit.

Within Plumpton village, residents said cutting the speed limit would be a key factor in making the road safer, though some wanted safety measures to go further.

Some fear that a car may one day crash into the playground of Plumpton Primary School, whose boundary wall is just a few yards from the edge of the crossroads.

A coroner yesterday recorded a verdict of accidental death on Dorothy Lister, 55, of Greenacres, Plumpton, near Penrith, and Gina Renucci, 22, of Carlisle, who died in an accident last October, a short distance from the scene of Sunday’s collision.

“But it would save lives – that’s a proven fact. All of the sites in Cumbria where we have mobile camera vans have seen a reduction in fatalities.