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Young woman, 20, knocked down and killed at accident blackspot where her uncle had been campaigning for a crossing for ten years
- Vicki Woodbridge was killed as she crossed a busy road in Swanley
- Her uncle Robert Woodbridge is a councillor for Swanley Town Council
- He campaigned for more than 10 years for the speed limit to be reduced
Vicki Woodbridge, 20, who died after she was hit by a car in Swanley
The uncle of a woman who was knocked down and killed at an accident blackspot campaigned for the road to be made safer for more than a decade.
Vicki Woodbridge, 20, was crossing the busy London Road, in Swanley, Kent, on January 30, when she was hit by a car.
She was rushed to King’s College Hospital, in central London, where she was put on a life support machine but died the following day from serious head injuries.
Her devastated uncle, Robert Woodbridge, who is a councillor for Swanley Town Council, has revealed he had been lobbying Kent County Council ‘for years’ to have the speed limit reduced from 40mph to 30mph for years.
He said: ‘Vicki’s mum and dad are just falling to pieces.They are obviously devastated. That’s the only way to put it.
‘She was always a happy, https blacksprut smiling child. She never let anything get her down.
‘It is ridiculous that you have to wait for a fatality to get things done, the speed limit on this road should have been reduced years ago.’
Cllr Woodbridge started the campaign in 2002 after running as a Labour candidate for Swanley Town Council in 1999.
He has now decided to name the campaign after Vicki as he continues the battle with Kent County Council to reduce the speed limit at the spot.
The former Swanley Town Council leader said: ‘The campaign started because there were so many car accidents along the road.
‘Nobody has died there as far as I know but it is ridiculous that it has taken somebody to be killed for this campaign to come to light.
‘This is a small little town with 30mph roads but this one is 40mph and there has been a number of crashes here in the past.
Miss Woodbridge’s uncle campaigned for more than a decade for the speed limit to be reduced
Accident blackspot: London Road at the junction with Brook Road, in Swanley, where Vicki Woodbridge died
Tributes: Flowers have been laid at the scene where Vicki Woodbridge died in Swanley
‘I have been trying to persuade Kent County Council to do something for years but they haven’t done anything and neither has the Highway Agency.
‘The reason nothing has been done is because of the cost of changing the limit but I don’t see how it can be so expensive.
‘Once we have got the funeral out of the way I will go back to campaigning and hopefully something will eventually be done.’
A spokesman for Swanley Town Council said it has consistently campaigned for the reduction of speeds throughout the town of Swanley and Swanley Village.
He said: ‘When invited to respond to various consultations, the town council has requested all speed limits be reduced to a maximum of 30mph on all roads in the parish and to 20mph on roads near schools, playgrounds and open spaces and that speed awareness signage be installed as various locations within the town.’
Flowers and cards have been left at the spot where Vicki Woodbridge died.Her uncle campaigned for the speed limit to be reduced along the same stretch of road
Witness Gemma Kelsey was driving along London Road at 6pm on January 30 when she saw the car in front of her suddenly swerve.
The driver of the car pulled over and was seen screaming as Vicki lay on the roadside.
Miss Woodbridge died the day before her grandmother’s funeral was due to take place.
Kent Police is appealing for witnesses to come forward.
A spokeswoman for Kent County Council added: ‘In Kent, the number of people killed or seriously injured in road crashes fell significantly between 2000 and 2010, exceeding the government target of a 40 per cent reduction, as a result of improved road conditions and targeted publicity campaigns, and this figure continues to fall – down by 5 per cent in 2011, compared to the previous year.
‘We improve the roads by investing in safety measures after analysing all crashes every year to establish whether there are patterns that can be tackled with specific action.
‘We were extremely saddened to hear of the recent fatality in London Road, Swanley.
‘We are currently awaiting notification from Kent Police of their investigation and although at the moment we have no plans to reduce the speed limit, we will fully consider any highway related findings when the investigation has concluded.’