Campaigner urges Derbyshire council to implement road safety plan after shocking collision

Bolsover District Council’s Deputy Leader, Coun Donna Hales, and residents have repeatedly raised concerns with the county council about the amount of accidents on the B6417 Mansfield Road, off Ramper Avenue, in Clowne, between Clowne and Bolsover, before it announced plans in November that it was looking to lower the speed limit to 40mph through the Oxcroft area.

However, after a further collision just before 5pm, on February 15, between a Volkswagen Polo and a Skoda Octavia on the 60mph Mansfield Road which resulted in four men and a woman being taken to hospital, Coun Hales has once again called for the implementation of the planned safety measures.

Coun Hales, who argued the latest collision shows the urgent need for the road safety measures, said: “Enough is enough now. Potential serious injuries. Same stretch of road on Mansfield Road. Speed reductions have been agreed but we are waiting for them to be implemented.”

She has previously explained the speed limit on this stretch of road is currently 60mph and following a series of accidents including ‘life-changing incidents’ and ‘fatalities’ campaigners have continued with a long-running appeal urging the county council’s highways team to address the problems with a reduced speed limit and traffic-calming measures.

Following the collision on February 15, a police spokesperson said: “We received reports of a collision on the B6417 Mansfield Road between Clowne and Bolsover just before 5pm, on Saturday, February 15.

“The collision involved a Volkswagen Polo and a Skoda Octavia. Four men and a woman were taken to hospital with three of them suffering serious injuries.”

Coun Hales, who represents Bolsover North and Shuttlewood, said the area has had multiple accidents and a fatality over the past two years and during this latest collision she claims four residents pulled individuals from both of the cars despite a fire and they looked after them until emergency services arrived.

Derbyshire County Council revealed this week that a traffic regulation order to advertise a reduction in the speed limit on the B6417 down to 40mph and for the section of Mansfield Road from Clowne to Oxcroft to be reduced down to 50mph has been published.

The county council also explained that once the plan to reduce the speed limits has gone through a legal process it aims to introduce additional signage to provide warnings about the road and the new maximum speed limits.

Bolsover District Coun Hales has told how the scale of the problem on Mansfield Road has meant the community has not even been able to do community speed watches to provide statistics because it is not safe to do so with the 60mph speed limit.

She has been pushing for traffic-calming measures along the road particularly along stretches near to residential properties.

Another previous collision happened on October 2, between a Volkswagen Golf and a Ford Transit tipper vehicle, according to Derbyshire Constabulary, and two people were taken to hospital but their injuries were not thought to have been life-threatening.

The county council met with campaigners and after working with Derbyshire Constabulary it increased signage at the entrances to nearby Oxcroft to encourage road safety and sensible driving through the village.

Derbyshire Constabulary has also been working with the Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership and has previously confirmed there are mobile enforcement sites along the B6417 which are used to monitor traffic by the Casualty Reduction and Enforcement Support Team and enforcement action is being taken when necessary and appropriate.

The county council previously stated the police are supportive of the county council’s proposed changes and the county council has been consulting with its statutory consultees as part of the Traffic Regulation Process, which it has stressed takes some time to complete as part of a formal legal process.

Derbyshire Constabulary also previously confirmed and has since reiterated that the force supports the county council’s proposals after the council confirmed it was looking at introducing a reduced speed limit through the Oxcroft area along the B6417 Mansfield Road.

A county council spokesperson said: “We were saddened to hear about the latest accident and hope that everyone involved is making a good recovery.

“This week the traffic regulation order to advertise the reduction in speed limit on the B6417 down to 40mph and the section of Mansfield Road from Clowne to Oxcroft down to 50mph has been published.

“This is the first step in addressing the collision history along this route and we hope that these measures will be supported by the public.

“Once we have gone through the legal process to reduce the speed limits, which we have to work through the stages of, we will also be putting in additional signage to provide additional warnings of the road environment and new maximum speed limit.”