Coroner worried about flooding after driver's death
A coroner has raised concerns about flooding on a dual carriageway after a motorist died in a crash.
Simon Milburn outlined his fears about a stretch of the westbound A1307 at Hemingford, Cambridgeshire, following 62-year-old Colin McCallum's death nearly a year ago.
Mr Milburn, coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said Mr McCallum lost control of his Ford Focus after hitting a patch of water.
He said there had been "five separate incidents" on the stretch in the 16 months before the crash.
Mr Milburn had concluded an inquest earlier this month and said Mr McCallum died after suffering "severe" injuries.
The coroner said the motorist lost control when he hit a patch of water on the dual carriageway near Huntingdon on at about 15:45 BST on 14 July last year.
Police had said last year that Mr McCallum, of Pettis Road, St Ives, Cambridgeshire, died after his car collided with a Volkswagen Beetle.
They said the Beetle driver, a 19-year-old woman from Swavesey, Cambridgeshire, suffered minor injuries.
The coroner said: "It was raining heavily at that time. Mr McCallum was driving in lane two of the carriageway when his vehicle struck a patch of water.
"I am concerned that unless the risk of flooding/standing water is reassessed and managed/monitored moving forward that there is a risk of future deaths occurring in circumstances similar to that of the current case."
Mr Milburn said between March 2022 to July 2023 police were aware of "five separate incidents" on the stretch of the A1307 when people had died or had been hurt after vehicles hit patches of water.
He said he understood that National Highways now had responsibility for the stretch.
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