THE father of a Uttoxeter cyclist killed by a lorry driver on the A50 is set for support from the town’s MP in pressing for a review of safety on the dangerous trunk road.
Noel Livingstone’s son Gary was cycling home from work at Foston prison on the A50 at Doveridge in 2008 when he was hit by a lorry killing him almost instantly at the age of 42.
The driver of the truck, Steven Welsh, was heard in court to be sending and receiving text messages on his mobile phone in the minutes leading up the collision, and he was subsequently jailed for almost three years for causing death by dangerous driving.
He was recently released from jail on licence after serving half of that sentence behind bars.
Noel Livingstone, of Lambert Road, told the Advertiser he was pressed into going to see Uttoxeter MP Andrew Griffiths at his surgery after hearing about the death of a cyclist on the A38 near Burton last month which had echoes of his son’s tragic death.
He said that he was ‘absolutely convinced that there is no defence for not prohibiting cycling on the A50’.
He said: “I spoke to Andrew Griffiths and he said he was intent on pushing the matter further. I said to him that, to me, it is so obvious that a ban on cycling on the A50 was needed and it has to tie in with cycle paths next to the A50 at Doveridge and past Foston prison.
“Over the time I have been living in this area I have read many times of motorcyclists and cyclists being sideswiped on the A50.
“You don’t hear about cyclists being killed on the M1 or the M6 because they are banned. Why should the A50 be any different? “I won’t take no for an answer. A sign should go up saying cycling is prohibited. I know the enthusiasts will say ‘no we can do it’ but they can’t.
“It should be banned from Doveridge to the other side of Uttoxeter. There is just no point in allowing it.”
Andrew Griffiths (pictured) said he has some ‘major concerns’ about whether both the A38 and A50 are safe for cyclists and about the number of accidents involving lorries on the A50, of which he has personal experience.
He said: “My thoughts are that we should call for an investigation by the Department of Transport and the highways agency to see whether the A50 is safe.
“It is a very busy road and a very tight road. I hope to have conversations with cycling clubs in Uttoxeter and Burton to see how they feel about cycling safety on the A50 and A38 and what could be done to make them safer or ban it altogether.
“I am also particularly concerned on the A50 about the number of accidents with lorries overturning at the Sudbury roundabout it happens on a regular basis.
“On election day last year I saw a lorry overturn there and we tried to help, but it seems to be every other week. My worry is that that there is a problem with the design of the A50 there with that noticeable camber in the road.”
On Monday morning a car ended up under a lorry on the A50 after a collision westbound between Sudbury and Doveridge.
There were no serious injuries in the incident.
