A WIDOW who lost her husband in a crash on the notorious A228 in Medway a year ago is demanding speed cameras be put on the road.

Karen Burton, 35, said shortly after her husband’s death on July 13 last year that only speed cameras would help cut deaths on the notorious stretch of road.

Now, after three more deaths on the road, she is hoping that her pleas won’t fall on deaf ears.

Mrs Burton, who lives at River Drive, Strood, with her three children, said at the time of the accident, that if cameras weren’t fixed up, then more deaths would follow her husband Steve’s.

The road qualifies to have speed cameras, but these need to be applied for by the local authority, Medway Council.

To date, an application has not been made and Mrs Burton’s chilling prediction has been proved right with three more fatalities.

Mrs Burton, who now cares for her three children alone, said: “I said more people would die and I was right. The A228 doesn’t have speed cameras and it’s got to be one of the worst roads in the country.

“I’m convinced the only way to stop the deaths and accidents is to have some speed cameras. I’m never going to fully recover from what’s happened to me and every time I read the paper there seems to be another death on the road.

“The thought of more people dying scares me and I would never want anyone to go through what we have been through. If one person can be saved and one family spared from grieving, then the cost of speed cameras has to be worth it.”

Guidelines show that a stretch of road needs to have had four or more people killed or seriously injured in the last three years to qualify for a speed camera, but it’s up to the council to apply for it.

A spokesman for Medway Council explained why there were no cameras on the A228. “Medway Council has not yet applied for safety cameras to be installed on the A228, he said.

“Among the criteria for installing a camera is the requirement that other safety measures have been put in place.

“By the end of 2003 the speed limit on this road was reduced to 40 miles per hour and we added double white lines to the centre of the road.

“However, the situation is being reviewed every year and the use of safety cameras on the A228 remains a possibility.”

* Last week, a coroner recorded an accident verdict following the death of Andrew Church on the road in March. He died after his car overturned and landed in a ditch.

Pathology tests showed he had drowned. The coroner said he didn’t know why the crash had happened. Mr Church had been three times over the legal limit of alcohol.