Calls to make road safer after fatal collision in Hemel Hempstead

A traffic planning consultant has called for Hertfordshire County Council to make St Albans Road in Hemel Hempstead safer following Tuesday's fatal collision.

Read: Family pay tribute to 'loving, caring mother' who died in Hemel Hempstead collisionThe collision happened on St Albans Road, just before 5pm on Tuesday, and involved a white Fiat 500, a silver BMW and a white Toyota.

Grace Estep, 26, from Kings Langley, the Fiat passenger, suffered serious injuries which sadly proved to be fatal. The driver of the Fiat, a woman in her 20s, was seriously injured. The other two drivers involved were also injured, one of them badly.

Deni Krevesic has now called for improvements to be made to the road to make it safer for drivers.

He said: "Yesterday's (Tuesday) accident in Hemel Hempstead proves how dangerous traffic could be. Sadly one young life is lost, and two injured, leaving behind devastated families.

"St Albans Road is a very dangerous road with a speed limit of 40mph between Magic and Maylands roundabout. This part of the road is located in a high density population area.

"The road itself has oddly designed junctions and slip roads, making the road even more unsafe.

"In addition to those, in the last ten years, this road becomes highly congested with cars and lorries speeding up to A414.

"According to crashmap.co.uk in the last five years, 40 accidents have happened on this stretch of road, one fatal, unfortunately one additional which happened yesterday and six more accidents with serious injuries.

"Based on this, the road is longing for some road safety improvements.

"The interesting fact is that traffic accidents are concentrated on junctions where the right turning from/in St Albans Road is allowed.

"At the moment there is no clear strategy on safety improvements of this road, which could be an excellent task for the council to consider in the near future.

"Understandably, alteration of those junctions into roundabouts would be expensive.

"However, there are certainly quick wins which could improve safety, such as reducing the speed limit to 30mph or banning right turns along the road.

"Reflecting on yesterday's tragic loss, we can only express our condolences to the family.

"Still, definitely, there is a lot that can be done to improve road safety on St Albans road to prevent any unwanted future events and in that way to save lives and lives of our children.

A Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson said: “We were saddened to hear about this tragic incident and extend our sympathies to those involved.

"Hertfordshire County Council takes highway safety extremely seriously and works closely with the police to improve road safety in the county.

"The police will undertake an investigation into the cause of the incident and will involve the county council in that process following this terribly sad incident.”

Police are investigating Tuesday's fatal collision and are appealing for witnesses.

Read: Police investigate fatal collision in Hemel Hempstead