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Mum wins fight to cut deaths on danger road
A grieving mum has won her two-year battle to stop further tragedy on the road where her nine-year-old son died.
Youngster Ryan Clark is one of four people to die on busy Schleswig Way in Leyland – and his mum Joann is determined that tragedy will not repeat itself.
Now, following her two-year battle in her son's memory, Lancashire County Council are finally considering cutting the speed limit at the accident blackspot.
Ryan, of Western Drive, Leyland, died days before Christmas 2004 after suffering serious injuries as he tried to cross the busy dual carriageway near his home, with two friends.
And Joann says hundreds of children still cross the road the same way as it lies between playing fields and woods where they play and two big estates where many youngsters live.
Now a county council report, triggered by Ryan's death, says the speed limit on the busy bypass should be cut from 60mph to 50mph and more done to ensure pedestrians can cross safely.
The study found there have been 62 accidents in which people were injured on the road in the 10 years between 1995 and 2004. Twelve of them were serious and three, including Ryan's, were fatal. A fourth accident, in January 2005, was also fatal.
The report recommended cutting the speed limit and also making changes to the signage and road layout to encourage more people to use a nearby pedestrian crossing. County bosses say they hope to bring in the changes in the next financial year as part of the 2007/08 Local Safety Schemes programme.
Mum Joann, who has campaigned tirelessly since his death for the speed limit to be slashed to 40mph, welcomed the move but said she still felt the limit should be lower.
Ryan had been playing in a den in woods on the other side of Schleswig Way from the estate where he lived on the day he died. He reached the centre of the road but was killed as he tried to run through traffic.
His mum says that the wood and playing fields nearby draw many children to cross the busy road at that point and she still sees hundreds of youngsters doing the same thing as Ryan.
The crossing is often ignored by the children as it means they have to walk further and many try to negotiate the traffic.
She said: "I am glad that they are doing something because I feel that, as a family, we needed to make a difference for Ryan's sake. I don't want this to happen to any other child.
"I am disappointed that they are not putting an island at the point where Ryan was killed. If there had been somewhere for him to shelter from the traffic, he might still be here now."
A county council spokesman said: "It's important to emphasise that these plans are still at an early stage and would form part of wider works."
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Weather for Leyland
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 13 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 16 C
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