A10 safety study planned after death of five-month-old Louis Thorold at Waterbeach
Measures to make the A10 safer for pedestrians between Waterbeach and Milton have been agreed following the tragic death of five-month-old Louis Thorold.
Louis died after being struck in his pram by a van that left the road on Friday January 22.
His mother, Rachel Thorold, remains critically ill in hospital in London.
Their family, including Louis’ father, Chris Thorold, the finance director of Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, have established the Louis Thorold Foundation to campaign for better protection for children, pedestrians and cyclists on our roads and have raised more than £30,000.
Now, following a meeting with Cambridgeshire County Council, South East Cambridgeshire MP Lucy Frazer and Combined Authority mayor James Palmer, a three-month plan to improve safety on the A10 has been agreed.
A route safety study of the road between the A14 and Denny End Lane will be completed by Friday (March 26) and speed monitoring equipment will be installed to gather evidence for reducing the speed limit on the road.
An application for a traffic regulation order could be made in April to do this, with its potential introduction in early June.
The foundation said: “The issues which caused the incident are complex, but the Louis Thorold Foundation has initially targeted the road environment along the A10 with a view to ensuring that pedestrians are safe from high speed traffic along the route and that any learnings from the death of Louis can be made promptly so no one else has to suffer or lose their lives.
“Through this, the principles of #visionzero and a ‘safe systems’ approach supported by evidence are critical to ensuring that no further lives are lost on this road.”
Vision Zero is an international safety project aiming to create a highways system with no deaths or serious injuries involving traffic.
A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesperson said: “We wanted to meet with the Thorold family to express our sympathies in person and to listen very carefully to them.
“We will give their comments proper consideration and we have committed to fast-track the completion of the A10 whole route safety study, deploy speed survey equipment to collect evidence for an appropriate speed reduction through a traffic regulation order process in the area and work with the developer to speed up the delivery of a shared use path as part of the Waterbeach development.”
The foundation says it is committed to preventing child pedestrian deaths on our roads, supporting emergency response teams, investing in research around road safety and rehabilitation from severe brain injury, and campaigning for road safety charities.
An inquest into Louis’ death opened in February and heard that Louis died from a traumatic brain injury. The inquest was adjourned until April 26 for a pre-inquest review.
Following Louis’ death, his father paid tribute to him, saying: “You were only with us for a short time, but you made us the happiest people in the world. You are such a happy little boy and your joyful smile and laughter will never leave us.”
For more on the foundation, visit https://www.louisthorold.com/
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‘You’ll always be in our hearts’: Dad pays tribute to baby Louis killed in Waterbeach crash
