Following the tragic death of Louis Thorold as a pedestrian in a road collision in January 2021 the Louis Thorold Foundation was created (#louisthoroldfoundation). Louis and his mother Rachael were simply walking along a pavement deemed safe by Cambridgeshire Council by the side of A10 in Cambridge. At the time of writing this Rachael is still in a severe condition in hospital having experienced a severe head injury.
The intention of the foundation is to eliminate infant road deaths with a particular focus on pedestrian safety. The foundation is fully supportive of similar charities who either raise awareness for or deal with the consequences of road accidents.
In 2018 28 children died as pedestrians on Britain's roads with no real change having occurred to this statistic for many years. We fully support the aims of the Police Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with their vision zero (#visionzero) initiative which looks to systemically improve road safety and create a zero tolerance approach. No human being should be killed or seriously injured as the result of a road collision.
There are numerous issues to deal with as a society to reach these objectives, but in order to start small, the Louis Thorold Foundation is focussing on one particular junction. That being the junction of the A10 at Car Dyke Road where Louis lost his life. This junction has been the scene of numerous fatal road accidents over the last 20 years, including many pedestrians before Louis. Over many years numerous residents, council departments and stakeholders have urged the council to make changes to this junction to protect both pedestrians and drivers. On the day Louis died nothing had been done.
Call to Action
Given the inability for those who represent us to take action to keep us safe, the Louis Thorold Foundation calls upon the council to act immediately to make the junction at the A10/Car Dyke Road safe by carrying out the following works:
Installation of safety barriers for all pavement areas to offer protection to pedestrians (this undoubtably would have saved Louis' life);
Reduction of the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph for the length of road between Milton and beyond Waterbeach (it is likely that at a lower speed Louis would still be alive);
Installation of a pedestrian crossing to allow pedestrians to cross from Waterbeach to Landbeach;
Potential - Full installation of traffic signals and reduction of speed limit to 30 mph.
These works will be a small step towards making the UK a safer place for pedestrians and will undoubtedly save lives in future and protect the residents of Waterbeach.
The foundation would also like to thank all who have donated to this special cause which has raised £25,000 in just 3 weeks. This money will be distribution to the two air ambulance charities who helped Louis and Rachael along with road safety charity Brake.
For more information please contact Chris Thorold (Chairman of Trustees).
