Safety measures rejected on bend despite death of student

Calls for road safety measures on a dangerous bend where a Canterbury teenager was recently killed have been rejected by Kent Highways.

The appeal for action came from Steve Whiting, who lives near the junction of Bullockstone Road at Herne, where 19-year-old student Stephin Thomas died.

He was a passenger in a VW Golf which left the road and crashed into trees in May .

Mr Whiting, 36, a father-of-two who runs a fencing company, claims the bend has long-been an accident blackspot and says he warned Kent County Council that a fatality was likely.

But this week a spokesman for Kent Highways says extra measures cannot be justified by the site’s accident statistics.

Mr Whiting said: “I don’t know where they are getting their statistics from because there are accidents here all the time, with cars crashing across the pavement and through my fence.

“It’s a dangerous bend and junction with traffic travelling too fast. At the very least there needs to be more warning signs. Stephen Whiting repairs fencing at the scene of the crash on Canterbury Road I’ve been telling them for years and years someone is going to die and this has really shook us up.

“Just two days before the fatal accident, there was another crash and a car was written off. There is a high risk to pedestrians too. A family or anyone could be walking along and wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Mr Whiting learned of Kent Highways’ stance in an email exchange with a traffic safety supervisor.

Tim Read, head of transportation at Kent County Council, told the Gazette: “Records show the A291 at the junction with Bullockstone Road is not a cluster site for killed and seriouslyinjured accidents.

“In terms of the crash, Kent Police are investigating and we are awaiting their conclusions on its cause.

“Our thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased.”

Stephin, of Ethelbert Road, worked at the Abode Hotel in Canterbury and was studying at Canterbury College.

He was a passenger in a car driven by a 24-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and drink-driving. The suspect has been bailed until September.

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The VW Golf, in which student Stephin Thomas died, is removed by emergency services on Canterbury Road, Herne