Calls to install a speed camera at the site of a fatal hit and run have failed to win the support of a senior county councillor.
On Monday (January 27), Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, heard from petitioners who want a speed camera to be installed 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 had been 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.
Lead petitioner Alan Howlett began his representations by paying tribute to Mr Forrest, describing him as “a much-loved and admired member of the Eastbourne community.”
He said: “One death at this crossing is one too many and the council should not gamble that another death takes place before taking action to prevent it.
“The council should therefore feel duty bound to take quick action to improve this crossing before any further accidents take place.”
In a report to Cllr Dowling, officers had said the collision was determined to have not been the result of “highways related causation factors” and had recommended the cabinet member inform petitioners that the junction does not meet the criteria for the installation of a speed camera.
But Mr Howlett disputed this view, claiming the officer’s report contained “inaccuracies” which should result in its conclusions being “declared invalid”.
As part of this argument, Mr Howlett claimed officers were incorrect that the road had already contained a speed camera. It was clarified that this camera, which sits between the road’s Michel Grove and Moatcroft Road junctions, had been in place for several years but had been destroyed in a collision.
Officers said the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership — the organisation which ultimately makes decisions on where speed cameras are placed within the county — intended to replace this camera in the near future and were “considering the use of mobile enforcement to provide a form of visibility in the interim.”
Cllr Dowling shared the officers’ view that the crossing would not meet the criteria for a speed camera and so declined to support the petition’s calls. In doing so, Cllr Dowling highlighted how the placement of speed cameras would not be the council’s decision
She said: “It is a fact that this does not meet the criteria, which has been assessed. So I will be agreeing with the recommendations.”
In their report, officers also noted how only one other collision had occurred in the nearby area in the three years leading up to 31 October 2024. The report did not give a date for this other collision but notes that it only occurred in “slight injury”.
