Petition bid after OAP tragedy (From Wiltshire Times)

Petition bid after OAP tragedy

4:49pm Wednesday 31st January 2007 in Trowbridge By Helen Thomas

THE daughter of a pensioner killed after she was knocked down on a busy Trowbridge road has set up a petition for a safe crossing on the street.

Wendy Bartlett, from West Ashton, and her family, were devastated when Evelyn Higson, 86, died last month after being hit by a car as she crossed West Ashton Road.

Mrs Bartlett has now started a campaign to persuade Wiltshire County Council to put in a crossing and is asking other concerned residents to sign a petition.

"I'm really doing an all out campaign because there needs to be a safe place for pedestrians to cross that road," she said.

"We need to prevent another accident because it's going to be a child next time. There are so many groups of children who walk along there who wait to cross."

The Wiltshire Times is supporting the campaign and supporters can sign the petition either online at www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news or in the newspaper's office in Duke Street.

Mrs Bartlett has also given petitions to the BP garage, in West Ashton Road, the shop in Green Lane and various local schools. "I plan to go and stand by the road with a video camera to show the council the extent of the traffic and I'm also going to go to Tesco," she said. "They already sponsor the roundabout at the end of the road so I want to see if they'd be willing to sponsor a crossing."

After reporting the accident, which happened on January 8, the Wiltshire Times received a number of letters and website comments all supporting Mrs Bartlett's call for a crossing.

Police are still investigating the accident and have put in a traffic monitoring system called MetroCount, which measures the volume, type and speed of traffic travelling along the road.

Pc Barney Appleton, of the road policing unit based in Chippenham, said: "When we investigate a fatality we have to look at the accident in great detail from all angles.

"We have to collect as much information as we can and that will be shared with the Highways Authority."

A spokesman for Wiltshire County Council said: "We welcome the petition if it is submitted and we are grateful for people taking an interest in the community and want them to get in touch with ideas so we can consider them."

He said the council had received requests for a crossing on the road in the past along with requests for other parts of the county.

"The road is due for reassessment next month and we will apply objective criteria to judge it, along with other areas," he said.

CLICK HERE to sign the Wiltshire Times West Ashton Road petition