Safety inspections on A18 after death of family

Angela and David Cockburn, their two daughters and granddaughter all died in the crash on the A18 near Grimsby in 2013.

Published 5th Aug 2016

Inspections begin on the A18 near Grimsby today - where a family of five died in a car crash three years ago.

Angela and David Cockburn, their two daughters and granddaughter all lost their lives when their car was involved in a head on collision with a lorry in April 2013.

A review of the road's safety was ordered earlier this year after an inquest ruled a rut in the A18 contributed to the accident.

Gail Farrington has been representing the family's surviving son, Dean Cockburn, and has spoken to us on his behalf. She told Viking:

"It's been horrendous; Dean Cockburn lost five members of hsi family, he's a young man with a young family of his own and he's never going to come to terms with the fact he lost his immediate family. I think they are just pleased now that the process is moving, they have had the inquest and that was a long time coming.

"It's been a difficult case for me too as while this has been a professional interest, on a personal front I also live close to the area so it was very shocking at the time and we all in the community want to make sure this never happens again.

"The family want to make sure that this does lead to change and that the road is brought up to scratch and that nobody else has to suffer the same tragedy that they have suffered, that's really what they want out of this. They are still coming to terms with what happened and I don't think they ever will.

"They really felt that the road was unsafe and that the state of the road just wasn't fit for purpose. Having inspected the road following the accident, they saw for themselves the ruts at the side of the road which was a contributory factor to the accident."

The safety survey means the A18 will be closed all this week.

It will be carried out in three phases along the stretch of the A18 between the junction with the A46 Laceby Road and the North East Lincolnshire boundary near Ludborough.

Each closure will see the road closed between 7.30am and 6pm.