Calls to install a speed camera at the site of a fatal hit and run are set to go in front of a senior county councillor next week.
On Monday (January 27), Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, is set to hear from petitioners who want the authority to install an extra speed camera in Upperton Road, Eastbourne.
The petitioners argue the new camera should be installed at a zebra crossing close to the road’s junctions with Ocklynge Road and Selwyn Road. This crossing was the site of a hit and run collision in July 2023, which resulted in the death of 75-year-old pedestrian Andrew Forrest.
Mr Forrest, who had been using the zebra crossing, was struck by a speeding car driven by 28-year-old Sharon Abraham, formerly of Compton Road, Eastbourne.
“Abraham was jailed for six years and banned from driving for eight years at Lewes Crown Court in April 2024 after he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
In a report to Cllr Dowling, officers say this collision was not the result of “highways related causation factors” and are recommending the cabinet member inform petitioners that the junction does not meet the criteria for the installation of a speed camera.
The report reads: “The Road Safety Team routinely engage with Sussex Police following crashes that result in a fatality or serious injury to discuss the full details of the crash, consider if there were any highway related causation factors and ensure appropriate action is taken if required.
“There were no highway related causation factors identified in the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash that occurred at the site in 2023.
“The site has been assessed against the criteria for a speed camera. The crash history and the causation factors of these crashes at the site for the previous three-year period mean that the threshold for a speed camera to be considered has not been met.”
The report goes on to note how the use of safety cameras is controlled by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) and that there is strict national guidance on the use of cameras intended to ensure they are only used to improve road safety and not as a way of raising extra revenue.
Officers also note how only one other collision occurred in the nearby area in the three years leading up to 31 October 2024. The report does not give a date for this other collision but notes that it only occurred in “slight injury”.
