Prince Philip crash road may have speed limit cut

Safety concerns had been raised over a stretch of road where the Duke of Edinburgh was involved in a car crash.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Jan 2019, 06:57 BST
Updated 7th Feb 2019, 17:44 BST
The Duke of Edinburgh who has been involved in a road traffic accident close to the Sandringham Estate but was not injured. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA WireThe Duke of Edinburgh who has been involved in a road traffic accident close to the Sandringham Estate but was not injured. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA Wire
The Duke of Edinburgh who has been involved in a road traffic accident close to the Sandringham Estate but was not injured. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

The local council is due to consider plans for new safety measures on the section of the A149 on Friday, including lowering the speed limit from 60mph to 50mph and implementing an average speed monitoring system.

Philip, 97, was left “very shocked” and shaken when the Land Rover he was driving was hit by a Kia as he drove near the Queen’s Sandringham estate on Thursday afternoon.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The crash happened at the Babingley crossroads, where the B1439 meets the A149 - also called Queen Elizabeth Way - around seven miles north of King’s Lynn.

Highways engineer Andrew Wadsworth told the Eastern Daily Press in October: “The A149 north of King’s Lynn was identified as having a high rate of personal injury collisions during routine analysis of collisions on Norfolk’s network.”

Mr Wadsworth said the predominant types of collision were “those which may be associated with excessive speed, such as tail end collisions, overtake and head on collisions”.

There has been no suggestion that speeding was involved in Thursday’s crash.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The A149 follows the Norfolk Coast from Great Yarmouth to King’s Lynn.

There were 40 “personal injury accidents” - including five that were fatal and 10 serious - in the six years to May 2018.

Norfolk County Council is meeting on Friday to discuss safety on the road near King’s Lynn.

A report by the council’s executive director of Community and Environmental Services, Tom McCabe, recommends that a safety camera scheme is implemented and agrees in principle to lowering the speed limit to 50mph.

The average speed camera system would cover the A149 from the junction with the A148, around two-and-a-half miles south of the crash scene, to Snettisham, six miles to the north.

Related topics:EdinburghLand RoverNorfolk