Calls to make a stretch of the M40 safer have been backed by Wycombe MP Paul Goodman.
The MP has already written to Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman to find out more about concrete barriers which may help prevent future incidents.
This comes after two fatal collisions three weeks ago which left four people dead along the motorway between Junction 1A and Junction three at Loudwater. The first accident, which happened on May 21, killed three people, and injured 11, as a lorry cut through the central reservation ploughing into on-coming traffic. The Free Press reported earlier this month that the campaign group Britpave believe that many incidents – and in particular crossover accidents – could be prevented if concrete barriers were installed along all UK motorways.
Mr Goodman said: “I want to find out more about concrete barriers and to find out how effective it would be to get them. I have been told by several people that particularly that part of the M40 is very dangerous and difficult to drive along.”
Statistics from The Highways Agency have also revealed that between 2003 and 2005 more than 40 people each year were seriously injured or killed along that particular stretch of the motorway. Each year, 200 crossover accidents happen, where cars travelling in one direction end up on the opposite carriageway during collisions.
Concrete barriers are designed to withstand 13 tonnes compared to 1.5 tonnes that a typical steel barrier can hold.
David Jones, director of Britpave, a concrete paving membership association, said: “The superior strength of concrete step barriers can help prevent crossover accidents. On the sections of UK motorways where concrete barriers have been installed no vehicles have ever crashed through them.”
Now, Mr Goodman says he hopes to hear back from the Minister for Transport within the next month and is hopeful the Mr Ladyman will help to determine whether this type of safety barrier is the most effective way to prevent other motorists from being killed in the future. He added: “Any action that can be taken to make the road safer is highly desirable.”
Meanwhile The Highways Agency say it will introduce concrete barriers along motorways in the UK in due course, but it remains unclear as to when this might happen along the M40.
Article published in the Busk Free Press (22/06/2007).
