Waterbeach A10 death: Grieving dad's 'disbelief' over road safety letter

Louis Thorold, pictured with his mother Rachael hours before the crash

A father whose baby son was killed when a van hit his pram has spoken of his "disbelief" at the response to his call for road safety measures.

Louis Thorold, who was five months old, died when the van collided with a car and mounted the pavement by the A10 in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire.

Chris Thorold has urged the county council to reduce the speed limit and install safety barriers.

In a letter, it said the junction in question was "not a high priority".

Louis' mother, Rachael Thorold, 36, was pushing the pram at about 15:30 GMT on 22 January when the van left the road.

She remains in hospital with a serious head injury.

Mr Thorold set up the Louis Thorold Foundation which has raised more than £25,000 in his son's memory.

It aims to reduce infant pedestrian deaths "through the promotion and advancement of road safety", and has called for immediate improvements at the junction of the A10 and Car Dyke Road.

The county council said there had been two injury collisions and one fatality at the junction in Waterbeach since 2015

The county council said a "route study" had highlighted a number of A10 junctions which required "remedial attention".

"The Car Dyke Road junction was not flagged up as a high priority as part of this analysis," it stated in a letter to South East Cambridgeshire MP Lucy Frazer.

"That is not to say that improvements at Car Dyke Road junction are not possible, but prioritisation will need to be carefully considered alongside these other junctions."

'Completely wrong'

Mr Thorold has responded to the council, calling on them to "stop trivialising road deaths, hiding behind process and statistics and make safety the only priority".

"I'm in disbelief," he told the BBC.

"They've got their evidence and they've followed the process, and that's it, no one is saying 'actually, that's completely wrong - someone has died'.

"My main emotion is one of sheer disappointment that I've found out the people who should be responsible for the safety of pedestrians think they are doing a good job, even though Louis is dead."

The drivers of the van and car involved in the accident had minor injuries. No-one has been arrested, but police said the investigation was continuing.

Cambridgeshire County Council said in a statement that it would contact Mr Thorold to arrange a meeting to discuss his suggestions.

"Safety on our roads is a priority for Cambridgeshire and potential improvements at this junction will be considered as part of the ongoing investigation," it added.

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