A NEW lower speed limit has been proposed for a road on which a family of three was killed in a head on collision with a lorry.

Berkeley Town Council has decided to apply for a 40mph speed limit on the Sharpness bypass – the stretch of road where Berkeley woman Becky Kingsland and her two children died in a collision with an articulated lorry.

A similar fatal incident occurred on the same stretch of road - the B4066 - in July 2006, when a 42-year-old woman was killed when her car collided with a lorry.

Mayor of Berkeley, Val Watts, expressed concern about the safety of the road after the death of Becky, 26, and her two-year-old daughter Alanah and son Logan, 18 months, in June this year.

Berkeley Town Council has now agreed to ask Gloucestershire County Council's Highways department to extend the 40mph speed limit on the B4066 to the Sharpness bypass, which is frequently used by lorries coming from the docks.

"The reason for imposing a slower limit is that although lorries are supposed to drive at 40mph, cars can still go 60mph and if there is a head on collision that means the two vehicles will hit at 100mph and you have got little chance of surviving," said Cllr Watts.

"If we can bring the limit down to 40mph then this will mean drivers have more time to react in an accident situation.

"That road is primarily busy with lorry traffic so if you are going to have an accident the likelihood is that it will be with a lorry. So anything we can do to prevent this happening will be good news."

Berkeley Town Council have written to the Highways department asking for an extended 40mph speed limit and are awaiting a response.