Councillors and air force personnel have welcomed the announcement of a review into road safety around US visiting forces bases in the UK following the death of Harry Dunn.
In a letter to the Dunn family Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) has been contracted to carry out the work which will include Lakenheath and Mildenhall.
It follows an international controversy around RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire after the US asserted diplomatic immunity for Anne Sacoolas after the death of 19-year-old Mr Dunn in a road crash in August last year.
Lawyers acting on behalf of 43-year-old Sacoolas said she had driven on the “wrong side of the road for 20 seconds” before the crash.
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Colonel Jason Camilletti, commander of 48th Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath, said: “We support the transport secretary’s review and welcome any findings that will help improve road safety for our communities.”
Councillors for the area surrounding the bases welcomed the review.
Louis Busuttil, Conservative county councillor for Mildenhall, said constituents had raised the issue of road safety around the bases with: “The review is welcome. It’s a serious issue and I’m glad it’s being take seriously by our government and that local airbases are training their new arrivals to drive in the UK as part of their induction.”
Victor Lukaniuk, independent county councillor for Brandon, said he had witnessed unsafe driving around airbases.
“We haven’t had any fatalities regarding drivers on the wrong side of the road, but I have witnessed Americans on the wrong side of the road,” he said.
But Mr Lukaniuk said nobody had raised the driving of US servicemen as an issue to him directly but said anything to improve safety was a good thing.
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