Increase in Sussex road deaths

TOBY Woolford is the fourth person to die in August on roads used by Horsham district residents.

Along with the tragic death of the 19-year-old on the A27 at Arundel last Thursday, Terab Ali, 52, of Bethune Road, Horsham, died after colliding with a hedge on the A264 at Faygate on Wednesday August 17 and 68-year-old Cecelia Hearn, from Hurst Cottages, East Street, Amberley, died near her home on Thursday August 11.

Meanwhile, 28-year-old biker Lukasz Pielach also lost his life on Thursday last week on the A264 at Pease Pottage.

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Mr Pielach who lived at Sequoia Park, Crawley was travelling westbound on his blue Yamaha 600 when he lost control and collided with signs on the Tollgate Hill roundabout. Paramedics treated him at the scene, but sadly he was pronounced dead.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or saw Mr Pielach on his motorbike prior to the collision should contact Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999 quoting Operation Kara.

A spokeswoman for the force said there had been a total of 41 deaths on roads in Sussex so far this year, compared to 39 in the same period last year.

Inspector James Biggs, from the roads policing unit, said: “Each death is a tragedy. I urge motorists to take extra effort to look out for themselves and other road users.

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“Officers from the roads policing unit all work to reduce death and injury on the roads. Together with partners and motorists we can make Sussex roads safer for everybody.”

A spokesman for the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) added: “These deaths will have deep - and lasting - effects on the communities that those people belonged to; their friends, their families; their work colleagues and their acquaintances.

“Our website - www.SussexSaferRoads.gov.uk - contains information on all of the training opportunities that exist to make our roads safer for all, as well as details of our publicity campaigns aimed at reducing injury on our roads.”

The SSRP also said this week that latest figures reveal an increasing number of 40 to 44-year-olds are being injured on scooters or small motorbikes.

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According to data analysed by the partnership, the first six months of this year have seen more riders of small motorcycles and scooters (powered two wheeler or PTW) injured than in the same period in 2010.

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