Shropshire crash victim's brother in A49 appeal for action to improve safety

Callum Burns today claimed cars were reaching speeds of up to 80mph, and called for new speed limits and more warning signs to be put up.

It's a view shared by many Shropshire Star readers, who have expressed their anger at the situation on our Facebook page.

It comes after the A49 running between Whitchurch and Ludlow was this week branded the most deadly in the county. Figures showed 16 people were seriously injured or killed on the road between 2012 and 2014.

There were 131 non-fatal accidents in the same period, resulting in 150 people being injured.

Mr Burns, whose brother died following a collision involving his motorbike on the road at Grinshill, near Wem, last summer, said: "The reason it is so dangerous is that there are so many towns and villages off the road, and it is so busy all the time.

"Local people know it is dangerous, it is those that are passing through. Because of the flow of traffic, people do 70mph or 80mph down there.

"Now the powers-that-be have recognised it is the most dangerous road in the county, they need to do something about it."

"It is an A road, but it is just like a country road at the same time. Something needs to be done."

Reader Andrew Smith said upgrading the road should be a key priority for the Government.

He said: "Yes, upgrading it will cost money but the Government is supposed to be investing in transport infrastructure.

"At least the A49 is a trunk road and is the responsibility of Highways England and their budgets and not Shropshire Council.

"This is in stark contrast to the A41 which is not a trunk road but is nearly as dangerous and carried a similar volume of HGV traffic.

"We should not blame the HGVs either – they are doing a job and bringing us our goods. We need roads that are suitable for all traffic and allow cars to safely pass HGVs and farm traffic.

"Shropshire and Telford councils have to decide if they spend money on the A41, libraries, schools or elderly care.

"The A41 needs to be upgraded to a trunk road and both the A49 and A41 in Shropshire require upgrading, and I would prioritise this ahead of HS2."

The Department of Transport figures show that over a three-year period, eight crashes led to 16 people being killed or seriously injured on the road.

A third of victims lost their lives following crashes on the A49.

The data comes from a review of crashes on the county's six trunk roads between 2012 and 2014.

The A5/M54 had more accidents overall, placing it as the second most dangerous. Between 2012 and 2014 there were 979 casualties on the county's six main roads from 688 accidents. A total of 52 of those people were killed or seriously injured in 26 of the crashes.

Earlier this month, 32-year-old Andrew Beddows died after the car he was driving left the A49 – close to the Shropshire/Cheshire border – and collided with a tree.

In August last year, 32-year-old Sebastian Ward, from Wem, died in a three-car crash in the area. There have been a number of fatal crashes over the past year, which will not be shown in the data drawn up as it ends in 2014.

With many collisions caused by speeding or careless driving, some readers blamed the motorists rather than the road.

Gail Nock said: "It doesn't surprise me with the amount of irresponsible drivers on the roads – too impatient most of them and others can't handle the size of car engine they have, driving far too fast.

"Perhaps there should be a ban on high performance cars in this country."