Clinton Pringle: Officials stall on releasing road expert's report

Tuesday 26 June 2018

Senior States officials have delayed the release of an engineer's report focussing on the design and layout of a road where a toddler was killed after being struck by a van.

The report was commissioned by Police after three-year-old Clinton Pringle, who was on holiday from Scotland with his family, died after being hit by a van in June 2016 – two years ago this week.

The collision occurred in Tunnell Street, a controversial ‘shared space’ area next to Millennium Park featuring a pavement without a kerb, no road markings and little signage.

While the van driver, Rebekah Le Gal, was sentenced for careless driving in relation to the death, many – including a forensic collision investigator– believed the road’s design to be one of the main reasons why the accident occurred.

Pictured: A tribute left at the scene of Clinton's death by his parents.

Extracts of the Police-commissioned safety audit read out during Le Gal’s Royal Court trial contained strong criticism of the layout. In it, UK engineer and road expert Alexandra Luck stated that faults would have been detected in the road had a safety audit been carried out just after its construction.

She added that, in all the time she spent in the area, she didn’t observe see “a single driver modify their driving”as the ‘Give Way’ sign was not “obvious” enough to drivers and could easily be missed.

The full report was not made public at the time of the trial, but States and Police officials said that it would be published following the conclusion of all judicial proceedings and the inquest into Clinton Pringle’s death.  

More than six months later, however, the full safety audit is still yet to be disclosed – despite numerous requests from Express.

In response to the most recent request, which was made using the Freedom of Information (FOI) Law in May, States officials said that managers within the department holding the report needed more time to “research” the potential consequences of releasing the report. It remains unclear what is meant by this, and whether it involves legal advice. 

Pictured: Tunnell Street was a 'shared space', featuring a design that does not clearly distinguish between road and pavement.

“Following a meeting of their Senior Management Team the department dealing with your request have determined that they now need to examine if there are any further implications of releasing the Alexandra Luck report,” they said.

If published, the report could provide yet more ammo for road safety campaigners who believe the design was never fit for purpose. 

In September last year, Express revealed that Le Gal may never have been able to access Tunnell Street had recommendations in a safety audit conducted by international experts five years before Clinton Pringle’s accident been implemented.

The Parish of St. Helier has since moved to make the area safer following the youngster’s tragic death.

At the inquest in November, they unveiled plans to install a zebra crossing, increased signage and speed bumps, as well as announcing their intentions to cut back hedges to increase visibility.

Pictured: The new zebra crossing on Tunnell Street.

Nonetheless, Clinton's parents, Michael and Stacey, told Express that this had "come too late" for their son.

In January, a new crossing was marked out at the spot where Clinton was killed.