Call for A30 review after death of young boys

Cornwall councillors have called for an urgent safety review into a stretch of the A30 after two young brothers died in a crash there earlier this year.

Tobias and Finley Rice were on their way to St Ives from their home in Christchurch, Dorset on 28 May when the car they were in was involved in a multi-vehicle crash.

Tobias, eight, died at the scene, while his five-year-old brother Finley died in hospital on 2 June.

Cornwall councillors have now asked National Highways to review the road between Loggans Moor roundabout and the Treswithian interchange; National Highways said safety is its "first priority" and it would always "progress interventions where feasible".

Presenting the motion at a council meeting on Tuesday, Mike Thomas, who sits on Cornwall Council, said: "I'm sure as those two boys got into the car that fateful day, they trusted that they would have a safe journey.

"When the family car left on its journey to St Ives, they trusted that National Highways would have sufficient mitigation to prepare for any driver errors that might take place on that road."

He noted that plans to dual the stretch of road were scrapped in the 1970s, claiming the wide road has remained an accident blackspot ever since.

Councillor Luke Rogers, who represents St Ives East, Lelant and Carbis Bay, said he welcomed the motion as the road was a "death trap".

St Ives councillor Andrew Mitchell, added: "There have been way too many deaths on this stretch of road.

"Allowing people to gamble and overtake in both directions on a three-lane highway, which should have been a dual carriageway from day one, verges on near criminality by National Highways. It really needs to be addressed."

Councillors voted in favour of Cornwall Council writing to National Highways to request that the route safety review for the section of the A30 is completed urgently and the result made public.

They will ask for the installation of CCTV cameras to detect mobile phone usage, U-turns and seat belt non-compliance on the road.

They will also ask for signs stating that all lawbreakers will be prosecuted, concrete 'slipform' barriers to prevent U-turns and head-on collisions, and that all measures which make the route safer are prioritised.

Councillors want National Highways to support any work's financing through the next round of funding.

They also ask that a long-term plan is scoped for the dualling of the section of the A30 by 2036.

Jack Mason, National Highways' South West Road Safety Manager, said they await the council letter.

He said: "Safety is our first priority and any death on our roads is one too many.

"We continue to work closely with Devon & Cornwall Police and Cornwall Council and, based on collision data and subject to network priority, we will always consider and progress interventions where feasible."

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