Bicester nurse launches petition after horrific crash
Grainne Wokes, who manages staff at Hillside Nursing Home in Aylesbury, and lives in Bicester[1], currently has 742 signatures on a Change.org petition to "stop A41 tragedies." The heroic health worker started the petition after being hit head-on by a Cherokee jeep travelling on the wrong side of the road in January 2021, just days after she had given first aid to two women who had been in a crash in the same area.
Mrs Wokes said: "The scary bit is the number of deaths, and serious accidents in cars that occur on the stretch of the Bicester Road between Berryfield and Bicester. "Accidents keep happening. No changes seem to take place.
That's what worries me. How many more accidents will there be? Young people have been killed on that road, not to mention all the bumps and scrapes that don't get reported.
"I was lucky to survive. I started this petition because if I can reduce the number of accidents on that road, even by a little bit, it would be a good thing. "I don't want other people to be in my position.
Families do not need to go through that." Mrs Wokes, who qualified as a mental health nurse from Thames Valley University in 2000, suggested what the road needs is better signage and other deterrents. She said: "There are a lot of blind dips, corners, bends, and hidden junctions on this 60mph road.
There needs to be signage telling people about these things. "It also needs something to indicate to people that the road is an incredibly busy commuter route, and make them aware that crashes are frequent." After her crash, Mrs Wokes worked from home for a few months, then went back in May part-time, and returned to full-time hours in late summer 2021. "The main injuries I have which still causes me problems are around my foot and ankle.
There's a lot of damage there. "I walk with a limp most of the time, and I'm slow generally, and slightly unsteady. I have to use a walking stick when on uneven surfaces, so I keep one with me in my car."
You can find Mrs Wokes' petition here: https://www.change.org/p/changes-needed-now-stop-a41-tragedies[3] Just three months after Mrs Wokes' crash, runner Kimberley Cameron dies after being hit by a police car on a pedestrian crossing on the same stretch of road. In July of the same year, 18-year-old Jorell Pascal died on the A41 in Hertfordshire when his car collided with a van.
There were 233 people killed in crashed on the A41 between 2014 and 2019. This story was written by Matthew Norman[4], he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter. Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.
Get in touch with him by emailing: [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1
References
- ^ Bicester (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)
- ^ RAF veteran who saw nuclear tests gets medal 65 years later (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)
- ^ https://www.change.org/p/changes-needed-now-stop-a41-tragedies (www.change.org)
- ^ Matthew Norman (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)