Road safety campaigners hope to get rid of path to school in Wotton

The Jason Moir Trust was established three years ago with the aim of raising awareness of road safety and pushing for measures on dangerous roads.

Following successes in raising awareness at local schools, the group is now urging the council to install more signs for drivers in the area and get rid of a path leading to Katharine Lady Berkeley's School.

The Trust was given its name to contribute to the legacy of Jason Moir, who lost his life at the age of 12 in 1989 while walking to KLB.

Jason was walking along the path by the side of the B4058, just around the corner from KLB, in Wotton Road.

It is believed that he stepped out onto the road to overtake some other students walking in the same direction when he was struck by a car and killed.

Years after his death, local action saw the construction of the ‘OK path’, which runs next to the path Jason was using, but is further away from the road and marked off by a hedgerow.

Jason’s sister Tara Pring who founded the JM Trust is pushing for the OK path to be the only path available as her long time goal.

In the short term the group is focussing on railings on the current path and encouraging children to use the OK path, which is dark due to the hedges, through the use of low-level lighting.

the charity is also hoping to obtain some new signage in the area alerting drivers. The road where Jason was killed is a 30 zone, but only metres away this switches to a 50.

“We’re trying to get the council to put railings down the old path or get rid of it completely. It doesn’t need to be there,” she said.

“We’re at a point now where we can put all the money we’ve raised into a fund and take it to the council and tell them what we want to do with it.

“We will never get over what happened but we’ve learned to live with the grief – and it’s difficult because I can see it happening again.”

To learn more about the JM Trust search for The JM Road Safety Trust on Facebook.