A farmer who is “extremely concerned” for his grandchildren’s safety has released CCTV footage of vehicles careering off a dangerous stretch of road onto his land.
18 incidents in the last 20 years have seen vehicles leave the national speed limit road and smash into the boundary of Kevin Peacock’s farm, reported The Daily Post.
One video, filmed at night in March, shows a car breaking through a boundary fence and rolling over, before coming to rest just yards from Mr Peacock’s family home. It is the third incident in less than a year.
Read more:Rugby player took his own life at viaduct while on phone to girlfriend
In another clip, a driver misses a bend on the treacherous A494 stretch in February, again breaking through fencing before coming to an abrupt halt on his driveway.
It has left the 54-year-old grandfather determined to force changes to the stretch of carriageway between Pandy’r Capel and Brynsaithmarchog in Denbighshire.
Mr Peacock said: “They’ve changed the sign with a slightly different one and put red markings on the road but there’s a reluctance to do anything else.
“There’s a busy crossroads and cars are even allowed to overtake on that junction yet elsewhere on the road there are barriers where there are no houses and speed restrictions to 50mph.
“I’ve had 17 or 18 cars into the fence over the years and I’ve now been forced to put more than 200 tonnes of soil on my side and raise the embankment.
In February a car left the A494 and careered down a bank before coming to a halt on the driveway
(Image: Kevin Peacock)
“If something happens to my family or grandchildren, because of their cars on their road, it’s too late. I’m extremely concerned for the safety of my family whilst using our own driveway and entrance. The potential outcome could be fatal should a vehicle leave the highway while we are on our drive.”
Mr Peacock’s family has lived at Llais yr Afon farm, between Ruthin and Corwen, for more than 70 years.
The grandfather, who has four young grandchildren, approached Denbighshire council, which said responsibility for the road’s regulation lies with North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency.
The road body told Mr Peacock it had organised an “ongoing scheme to improve signage and road markings along this section of highway following a Collision Investigation and Prevention (CIP) study”.
However he said it was already in place when the last two incidents occurred and has now released the shocking videos along with a demand for greater safety measures.
Mr Peacock said: “They need to look at the speed limit – it’s the speed which causes people to come off at that bend. Why not put barriers there – further down there are barriers where there are no properties.”
He said there are also average speed cameras on other sections of the road which he claims has “sent all the speeders to us”. North Wales MS Llyr Gruffydd has been trying to get something done on behalf of Mr Peacock.
He said: “Some of the drivers are travelling so quickly it means they are coming through the hedge and down the bank into the farm at terrifying speed.
“Anyone who happened to be there would stand no chance and I agree with Mr Peacock there is a real risk to life here. At the very least, barriers need to be installed to prevent that happening and a thorough review is needed to make this stretch of the A494 safer for local residents and other road users.
“That’s why I’m inviting the Minister for Transport to visit the site and to review the video footage so urgent action can be taken.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We have recently improved signing and road markings at this location but will continue to review the evidence in support of any further engineering measures.
“We continuously monitor Police official records of collisions and prioritise sites where this evidence highlights the need for additional measures.”
Should there be more measures on this stretch of road? Let us know in the comments section below
Read More
Related Articles
Read More
Related Articles
