Committee agrees to reduce speed limit on A149
- By Elaine Bird
- 18 January 2019
- North-West Norfolk
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The day after the Duke of Edinburgh’s crash on the A149 near Sandringham, Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee agreed to reduce the speed limit to from 60mph to 50mph and and to install road safety cameras.
The proposals had already been on the meeting's agenda before the Duke's crash and councillors said they had been "looking closely into the safety of the A149 for some time".
Cllr Martin Wilby, Chairman of Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee, said: “I am extremely sympathetic to everyone who was involved in yesterday’s incident and wish everyone a speedy recovery. But it is not our place to speculate on the cause of last night’s incident.
“We have been looking closely into the safety of the A149 for some time. A detailed report was submitted to Environment, Development and Transport Committee by Norfolk County Council officers last week along with a recommendation to approve, at today’s meeting, the implementation of a 50mph speed limit and to install road safety cameras.
“Based on the report and our dedication to the safety of the people in Norfolk, the committee has agreed to reduce the speed limit of the A149 to 50mph on two sections of the road and approved the Norfolk Camera Safety Partnership scheme to install road safety cameras along the road.
“I am also aware of local concerns about some of the junctions along the A149. In light of this, we have agreed that further work must be added to the Norfolk County Council’s Highways forward plan to investigate whether additional road safety measures need to be implemented.
“All the approved and future work will be carried out within the usual timescales.”
The 97-year-old Duke was at the wheel of a Land Rover Freelander when it overturned on Thursday afternoon just after 3pm and collided with a Kia driven by a 28-year-old woman who suffered cuts to her knee. A 45-year-old passenger in the Kia suffered a broken wrist and a nine-month-old baby boy who was also in the Kia escaped unhurt.
"Both casualties were treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn and were discharged last night," police said.
Prince Philip was not taken to hospital and is said to be recovering at Sandringham with the Queen.
Both drivers were breath tested following the collision and today, 18th January, Norfolk Police confirmed that both tests were negative.
On Radio 4’s Today programme this morning witness Roy Warne told the interviewer that he saw the Duke’s black vehicle roll over to the other side of the road after a huge collision with another car.
He reported that the Duke was “very shaken and he asked if everyone else was all right.”