Cut speed limit where three generations died - coroner

The speed limit on a road where a mother and her pregnant daughter died "should be reduced significantly", a coroner has said.

Marion Bunyan, 54, and Jennifer Bunyan, 24, drowned when their car left Puddock Road, near Warboys, in Cambridgeshire, and crashed into a water-filled ditch. Miss Bunyan's unborn child also died.

In a prevention of future deaths report, Cambridgeshire's senior coroner, David Heming, said there had been "a number of other drowning incidents" on that section of the road, yet the 60mph (96km/h) speed limit had still not been reduced.

Cambridgeshire County Council said it was "taking this report extremely seriously and there will be a full investigation into the concerns raised".

In the report, Mr Heming said: "A barrier to prevent entry to the waterway would be one effective measure that has been deployed in many other places to prevent a vehicle leaving the road.

"This road has an uneven road surface and it was within local knowledge that the designated speed limit was dangerous and could lead to a loss of control whilst driving in the upper speed range.

"It raises a concern that the speed limit should be reduced significantly as a risk reduction measure – some areas have adopted 20 mph on some sections of road."

An inquest at Peterborough Town Hall in 2023 heard Jennifer Bunyan was driving the car on 7 June 2020 at about 11.30 BST when it left the road.

No other vehicles were involved and the women, from Little Paxton, St Neots, were in a silver Nissan Qashqai.

There had been four deaths in five years on the 60mph (97km/h) limit road, the inquest heard. All of the fatal accidents involved vehicles entering the ditch.

"The need for a reduction in the limit as a safety measure does not appear to have been raised during inspections/debriefs following [the] fatalities," said Mr Heming.

"I have a concern that inspections of the road have not been sufficiently rigorous given a recurring issue of highway degradation from ‘rutting’ at the carriageway edge, which can be a contributory factor causing loss of control of a vehicle."

He also raised concerns about a lack of prompt repairs and the weight of vehicles using Puddock Road, damaging its verge.

The senior coroner highlighted "funding pressures" on councils which "have delayed prompt action in risk reduction" at sites known to carry a risk of death.

He has written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haig, suggesting she set up a central government fund to quickly release capital for repairs.

A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesperson offered its condolences to the Bunyan family.

“We have received a prevention of future deaths report from the coroner, we are reviewing the case and preparing our response," they said.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The safety of our roads is an absolute priority for this government, and that’s why we are committed to delivering a new road safety strategy – the first in over a decade.

"We will set out next steps on this in due course.”

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