Danger road speed limit to be cut?

THE King Offa Way speed limit could be cut from 40 to 30 mph following the two recent fatal accidents.This is one idea being investigated by the Highways Agency.

It comes in the wake of the Observer's campaign to get safety barriers installed on a dangerous stretch of the Old Town bypass.

The agency says it will send town MP Gregory Barker the results of the latest King Offa Way accident inquiry as soon as it is available.

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In that accident a 25-year-old motorist died after his car veered off the road and smashed into a family's living room.

Jackie Carpenter and her family were trapped in the wreckage.

A Bexhill motorist died last December after her car crashed into other vehicles at the same spot.

A Highways spokesman was responding to the on-site meeting between agency route manager Colin McArthur and Kevin Reid, asset manager for the agency's regional trunk road contractors Atkins with Mr Barker.

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The MP has taken up the Observer's campaign for improved safety on King Offa Way.

The Observer believes that safety barriers are essential for the protection of families whose homes are at a lower level that the road.

The spokesman said: "The Highways Agency and the police are working together to establish if there is a trend in the cause of recent accidents that could be addressed by carrying out engineering works.

"The agency is looking at reviewing the speed limit on this stretch.

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"The agency is looking at the stretch of road from De La Warr Road to London Road and the fact that it is prone to drivers exceeding the 40mph speed limit."

"We would just like to say that the Highways Agency is saddened by the loss of life on its network and will ensure the recommendations from the detailed investigation are being taken forward as quickly as possible, subject to funding."

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