Many people will have seen the reports of the shocking car crash, in which two young men were killed, on the A20 London Road near Farningham some ten days ago. The collision - invoking three vehicles - took place at around 1:20 am on Saturday 29 April, near the junction with Eglantine Lane. The two young men who lost their lives were both musicians: Mike Crampton, keyboard player with the Dartford band The Pisdicables, and his friend James Montegriffo. Eight other people were injured, one seriously.
I did not post about this at the time - it did not seem right to do so in the midst of an election campaign - but it is clearly important to track any information that emerges from now on as to what happened and why.
A lot of concerns have been raised about safety on the A20, and in particular around the junctions in Farningham - I have attended two site meetings seeking to address the issues in the last eighteen months. Kent Highways has identified the A20 junction with Button Street as having a particular concentration of accidents, and are looking to bring forward measures to address this, but there is less agreement and clarity regarding other potential problems on the A20.
At the time of writing, we have yet to see reports from Kent Police and others, and so it is impossible to draw any conclusions, or to say whether or not the horrific events were caused by features of the road that might be susceptible to highways engineering solutions. Reports indicate that the collision was head on rather than involving a vehicle emerging from a junction.
For now, our thoughts must be with the friends and families of the victims of the crash, but as more details emerge I will post further updates, including emerging conclusions as to any possible courses of action.
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