How many people have to die before Northampton road is made safer? Ex-teacher mounts safety campaign

Pas Render, of White Doe Drive, Moulton Leys, is trying to get the 50 mph limit on Boughton Lane lowered to 30 mph after figures revealed the road to be an accident blackspot.

In total, there have been more than 90 recorded collisions on the one-and-a-half mile stretch since 2006 - with seven of those resulting in a fatality.

The latest was in May, when a 51-year-old man died after veering off the road in his Peugeot 207 and hitting a tree.

Mr Render, aged 68, said the accident in May was the “final straw” for residents in Moulton Leys.

He said: “The council can’t come back and say we haven’t got the money to make this road safer when there has been seven deaths.”

“Just what is the value of a human life?”

Mr Render delivered flyers to 1,000 homes around the Moulton Leys area earlier this month, calling for residents to write to their MP Michael Ellis, police and the county council’s highways department to demand a change in the speed limit.

So far 25 people have responded to say they would.

In reply, one man told of two occasions where a car had crashed through his back gate.

Another told how he tried to assist a man involved in an accident, but was too late to save his life.

“In the last 34 years I have lived in Moulton Leys, I have just been shocked by the driving and general lack of safety on the road,” Mr Render said.

“When I began talk with to residents about this, I found so many felt the same.

“In the past two to three years, there seems to be a recurring theme where people have tried to get police and highways to do something about it but very little has been done.”

Mr Render said it was “madness” that the dual carriageway A5076 bypass, which runs almost parallel to Boughton Lane, can have a slower 40mph speed limit.

“There are some small reflective bollards on the corner of Boughton Lane, but there also needs to be further safety measures,” the former teacher added.

“There doesn’t have to be speed bumps of those chicanes. But certainly ‘slow’ signs and reflective rumble strips could be considered.

“At the moment there aren’t even white lines on the bend.”

The road is currently classified as an amber route, but Mr Render believes it should be upgraded to a red route, which would make it subject to regular safety assessments from the highways authority.

The Chronicle & Echo has requested Northamptonshire County Council looks into the concerns of the Moulton Leys residents.