Campaign for canal barrier

Published: Tuesday, 12 January 2010

A mother who lost her daughter when her car went through the railings by the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Skipton, and who has campaigned for it to be repaired, was shocked to see another car had crashed at the same place.

Julie Wade, whose daughter, Charlotte, and two other teenagers died when the car went through the railings into the canal last May, is convinced that a proper crash barrier would have saved them.

However the car involved in the latest incident at the bridge did not go through the railings, and there were no fatalities.

Inexperience

An inquest into Charlotte's death concluded that her inexperience as a driver was most likely to blame for the accident. She had passed her driving test two days before the tragedy.

The campaign by her family for safety barriers beside the canal to replace decorative railings includes a petition that has 9,500 signatures.