Family of accident victim, Bob Hollingsworth, launches petition

There is growing pressure to do something to prevent accidents at the corner of London Line and Forest Road in Plympton-Wyoming.

And the calls are coming from both the public and the politicians after the most recent accident two weeks ago saw a motorcyclist airlifted to hospital with serious injures.

Stephanie Cattrysse has started a petition calling on the County of Lambton to find a way to improve the safety measures at the corner.

Her step-dad, Bob Hollingsworth, died in a crash at the corner Sept. 20.

“It’s been horrible. Especially because it’s preventable.”

Cattrysse, who worked as a journalist in the past, went digging for statistics and found there have been more than 31 accidents at the corner in the last 10 years. One took her step-dad’s life, another the life of a good friend in Warwick Township, Brenda Rogers.

Cattrysse started a petition Monday calling on the county to take “immediate action in implementing additional, appropriate safety measures… including but not limited to transverse rumble strips, additional signage, flashing solar lights or a roundabout.”
So far, over 1,100 people had signed it.

See the petition here: http://chng.it/VRbmNgbHWt

One person backing Cattrysse’s call for action is Plympton-Wyoming Mayor Lonny Napper. He raised the issue at county council June 16.

Napper says neighbours in the area, who respond to the accidents, have been calling asking for the county to do something to make the intersection safer. “These folks are getting quite concerned…my council will probably support what they’re saying,” says Napper. The mayor adds it’s very trying on the neighbours “because they’re the first ones there.”

“I don’t understand why there are accidents there; it’s an open intersection. I think what it is, is driver error a lot of the time,” Napper added.

There have been concerns voiced about the intersection at the county level before, however so far staff have not presented a report which might shed light on the problem. County officials say a report will come to county council in the fall.