Pothole Photos Emerge Days Before Fatal Teen Crash
Newly released images reveal the poor condition of a road where a speeding car hit a pothole and plunged into a river, killing two teenagers.
Newly released photographs show a road riddled with potholes just days before a speeding car struck one and plunged into a river, killing two teenagers.
A VW Polo driven by Declan Berry, 18, was traveling at approximately 90 mph (145 km/h) on March 17 when it entered the River Nene on North Brink, near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. Berry died in the crash, as did one of his passengers, 16-year-old Eden Bunn.
Four days prior to the incident, Cambridgeshire County Council had scheduled repairs for 98 potholes along the same stretch of road, with work set to commence on April 3. The authority stated that the repairs were scheduled in accordance with their normal maintenance processes and response times.
Photographs obtained by the BBC through the Freedom of Information Act capture the road's condition when council officials visited. The repairs were eventually carried out on March 20, after the road was closed following the fatal crash.
An inquest into the crash heard that three other passengers managed to escape the vehicle. Bunn died from a head injury, and Berry's body was recovered from the river two weeks later. One of the passengers recounted asking Berry to slow down, to which the driver reportedly replied, "We will be fine." The speed limit on that section of North Brink is 60 mph (96 km/h).
A police report identified the driver's speed as the most significant contributory factor to the crash, although it also noted that the road's condition and the presence of potholes played a role.
The court was informed that the council had received 127 complaints regarding the road's condition in the months preceding the crash, including reports of potholes, mud, and debris on the carriageway. It remains unknown if the specific pothole that Berry's car struck was among those documented in the photographs.
"Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families and friends of Declan Berry and Eden Bunn and all of those affected," a council spokesperson said. "We are aware of the coroner's findings that the condition of the road more than minimally contributed to the collision. Safety is our primary concern. We carefully prioritise our maintenance resources across the 4,500km of our road network. The most urgent defects are made safe within two hours and fully repaired within five days."