Action needs to be taken to prevent future tragedies along the A66 following the death of a beloved husband and father, a coroner has said.
Stephen Cloudsdale’s Ford Fiesta collided with a large goods vehicle whose trailer was jutting out from the central reservation on November 11, 2019.
An inquest in January heard that the 61-year-old, of Millom, would have had less than one second to react to avoid the crash, which occurred in the early hours of the morning at Stainmore Cafe, near Kirkby Stephen.
Craig Smith, assistant coroner for Cumbria, has now sent a report to the county council in the wake of the incident in an effort to stop further tragedies occurring in future.
Mr Smith listed a number of areas of concern in his report.
He said the lack of lighting in the area in which Mr Cloudsdale died made vehicles crossing the carriageway ‘difficult to see by approaching drivers during the hours of darkness and/or during adverse weather conditions’.
He highlighted a lack of signs being in place to warn drivers of the possibility of vehicles crossing the carriageway ahead of them.
He said the speed at which traffic moved along the stretch was also an area of concern, as was the width of the central reservation when it came to accommodating large vehicles without them encroaching into the carriageways.
“In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you and/or your organisation has the power to take such action,” he said.
Mr Smith noted the county council had a duty to respond by the end of March.
“Your response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken, setting out the timetable for action,” he said.
“Otherwise, you must explain why no action is proposed.”
Mr Cloudsdale had been en route to his job as a process operative at James Fisher Nuclear at Malton, North Yorkshire, when the collision occurred.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court was told in January that it was raining heavily and that Mr Cloudsdale had his dipped headlights on at the time of the incident.
