Latest news with #JenniferTaylor
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Cambridge guided busway could introduce safety barriers
A council that was fined £6m after three deaths on its guided busway has proposed installing fencing and barriers along the entire 16-mile (26km) County Council said it was in "full acceptance" of "historical failures" relating to its busway, which runs from Huntingdon to Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts died after collisions on the route between 2015 and council said a "new and robust" safety regime had been in place since the authority was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court in April, prompting it to recommend more safety measures as a result. In a report being presented to councillors on 17 June, the authority estimated it could cost £4.7m to install a fence or barriers along the guided busway, which is the longest of its kind in the world.A permanent fence on a section of the busway between Cambridge railway station and Long Road Bridge was installed in April 2024, which the council said was proving to be authority also said it wanted to tackle flooding on sections of a path that runs alongside the busway between the Holywell crossing and Fen Drayton, to prevent people from using other routes that could be said solutions such as a pontooned walkway were estimated to cost £5m but that more design work was needed. 'Greatest safety' The council also recommended not to go ahead with plans to widen the footpath and cycle path along a section of the route between Cambridge railway station and Trumpington Park and was first recommended by the engineering firm Mott MacDonald in June 2022 and a £2.9m budget was approved by councillors the following the council pointed to "pinch points" along the route and said the costs would not be possible within the budget, instead recommending additional signs, markings and Beckett, the chair of the authority's highways and transport committee, said: "The council accepted full responsibility for the historical failings and officers have been looking at what other measures we could explore to try and reduce any risks further."A lot of work has gone into looking at what we can do, which will not only benefit the people who cycle, walk and run alongside the busway, but which will also bring the greatest safety benefit in a way which delivers value for money."If approved, the works would go ahead a plan to install alongside new signage and markings, as well as a campaign to promote safety along the busway. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Independent
13-03-2025
- The Independent
Council had ‘entrenched mismanagement' of busway safety, court hears
A county council showed an 'entrenched mismanagement of safety' for its public transport system which was involved in the deaths of three people, a court has heard. Jennifer Taylor, 81, Steven Moir, 50, and Kathleen Pitts, 52, all died in separate incidents with Cambridgeshire Guided Busway between 2015 and 2021, and a boy sustained life-changing injuries. The busway, which involves a modified bus being guided along a track, is a 16-mile route which uses old rail routes to link Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives. Cambridgeshire County Council, which runs the busway, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last year in connection with the incidents. It admitted two charges under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 last September, relating to the public trying to cross the busway at designated crossings and being struck while moving alongside the busway. Prosecutor Pascal Bates told Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday the busway was involved in 'a number of very serious injuries', including to two children, between the summer of 2011 and spring 2023, but the council 'kept going despite numerous warning signs'. '[There was] an unpreparedness properly to ask itself relevant safety questions,' Mr Bates said. The council did not tell the HSE of the risks it identified with the system until 2022, six years after it conducted an initial assessment, the court heard. Cambridgeshire Guided Busway opened in August 2011 and busways are still 'relatively new and rare concepts' in the UK, the prosecutor said. The council proposed the creation of the busway and currently runs it, including organising maintenance and control of its infrastructure. Mr Bates said the council 'never operated the busway fully in compliance with safety law' up to 2023, and that it felt any criticisms of its safety procedures were 'illegitimate'. Until 2021, the buses travelled at a 'lane speed' of 56mph, meaning it would cover 25 metres a second. Their routes pass through a variety of rural and urban areas and can often become extremely cramped and in very high demand, the court heard. The buses are also silent, 'far more quiet' than a bus on tarmac, Mr Bates said. The court heard a female passenger fractured her skull aboard one of the buses in October 2011, after the driver performed an emergency stop to avoid a cyclist. Mr Bates said the incident was not reported to the HSE at the time, and HSE was not told about it until 2023. 'We say this should have been a wake-up call,' the prosecutor added. The council then 'appeared to write off' three other incidents, in which cyclists were admitted to hospital, in 2012, 2013 and 2014, by suggesting the cyclists were to blame, Mr Bates said. A number of road safety audits were conducted by the council but the quality of these was 'very bad', Mr Bates told the court. In a statement last September, after the council pleaded guilty to the charges, Cambridgeshire County Council's chief executive Dr Stephen Moir said it was 'truly sorry' for having fallen 'far short' of the appropriate health and safety standards on the busway. Family members of the three people who died attended the hearing, sitting in the public gallery.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Yahoo
Council did not manage guided busway risk, judge told
A council prosecuted after accidents on a guided busway "mismanaged safety", a judge has been told. Cambridgeshire County Council has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after three people died and a teenager was seriously hurt on the busway during a six-year period. The council has admitted breaching health and safety legislation. A judge has been taking evidence at a sentencing hearing at Cambridge Crown Crown. Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts all died after collisions on the busway, serving Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, between 2015 and 2021. Barrister Pascal Bates, who is leading the HSE legal team, outlined evidence on Thursday as relatives of people who died watched from a public gallery. He said guided busways were rare. "This case is about the management of risk," Mr Bates told Judge Mark Bishop. "The incidents in this case are related to incidents where that management did not work." He said one charge related to crossing the busway and one charge to people being alongside. Mr Bates said the case concerned the "mismanagement of safety" and added: "Central to the case was unpreparedness by the council." He told the hearing the council had repeatedly refused to ask itself "relevant questions". Mr Bates also said there had been "warnings" and told the judge: "It persisted, with inadequate justification, in not doing what it should have been doing all along." He said buses running on the busway were "relatively silent". "They are modern machines and they whisper along," Mr Bates added. He told the hearing the "line speed", or maximum speed, for guided buses was 56mph (90km/h). He said between 2011 and 2023 there had been three deaths and a number of "serious injuries" to "innocent" members of the public. In 2011, a bus had made an emergency stop and a passenger had hit her head and fractured her skull. Mr Bates said the incident had not been reported to the HSE. Guided Busways Guided busways are tracks which enable buses to travel at speed. They have been built along former railway lines The Cambridgeshire busway is one of the best-known in Britain - one also runs between Luton and Dunstable On Monday 5 March 2007, then Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander opened a manufacturing plant at Longstanton, near Cambridge, which aimed to produce the 6,000 concrete beams for the guided bus route between St Ives and Cambridge The Cambridgeshire busway required Government approval and the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway Order 2005 came into force on 11 January 2006 The hearing is due to end on Friday. The judge was shown footage of two incidents. Both involved people trying to cross the busway. Mr Bates said one incident resulted in a woman's death and, in the second, a teenage boy was badly hurt. Judge Bishop has indicated that he will announce decisions on sentencing at a later date. A lawyer had said at an earlier hearing that a commercial organisation convicted of the same offences would expect a seven or eight-figure fine. In September 2024, council chief executive Dr Stephen Moir apologised. "We fully recognise and accept that during the historic operation of the guided busway, when these incidents occurred, that we fell far short of meeting these standards," he said in a statement released by the council. "For that we are truly sorry." In October at an earlier court hearing, the council admitted two breaches of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act. The breaches were: Failing to ensure members of the public were not "exposed to risks" when using "designated crossing points" Failing to ensure members of the public were not "exposed to risks" when in the "vicinity of, or seeking to travel alongside" the busway Barrister Ben Compton KC, who represented the council, had told the judge at an earlier hearing that the authority's "financial circumstances" would have to be considered before sentence was passed. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Judge due to sentence council after busway deaths Cambridgeshire County Council Busway HSE
BBC News
13-03-2025
- BBC News
Council did not manage Cambridgeshire busway risk, judge told
A council prosecuted after accidents on a guided busway mismanaged "safety", a judge has been County Council has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after three people died and a teenager was seriously hurt on the busway during a six-year council has admitted breaching health and safety legislation.A judge has been taking evidence at a sentencing hearing at Cambridge Crown Crown. Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts all died after collisions on the busway, serving Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, between 2015 and Pascal Bates, who is leading the HSE legal team, outlined evidence on Thursday as relatives of people who died watched from a public said guided busways were rare."This case is about the management of risk," Mr Bates told Judge Mark Bishop."The incidents in this case are related to incidents where that management did not work."He said one charge related to crossing the busway and one charge to people being Bates said the case concerned the "mismanagement of safety" and added: "Central to the case was unpreparedness by the council." The hearing is due to end on Bishop has indicated that he will announce decisions on sentencing at a later date.A lawyer had said at an earlier hearing that a commercial organisation convicted of the same offences would expect a seven or eight-figure fine. In September 2024, council chief executive Dr Stephen Moir apologised."We fully recognise and accept that during the historic operation of the guided busway, when these incidents occurred, that we fell far short of meeting these standards," he said in a statement released by the council."For that we are truly sorry."In October at an earlier court hearing, the council admitted two breaches of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work breaches were:Failing to ensure members of the public were not "exposed to risks" when using "designated crossing points"Failing to ensure members of the public were not "exposed to risks" when in the "vicinity of, or seeking to travel alongside" the busway Barrister Ben Compton KC, who represented the council, had told the judge at an earlier hearing that the authority's "financial circumstances" would have to be considered before sentence was passed. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
