A GRIEVING father whose son was killed on the A1 a year ago today was at Downing Street yesterday to hand in a petition.
Alexander Gibson’s son, of the same name, died in a head-on collision on the road near Alnwick on November 14 last year.
The 32-year-old’s father set up a petition calling on the government to dual the A1 through Northumberland in order to prevent further loss of life.
Mr Gibson yesterday handed in over 11,000 signatures at 10 Downing Street.
His son was a divorced father-of-two who lived in Berwick and worked as a driver.
His car drifted on to the wrong side of the road into the path of an oncoming 4x4 on single carriageway.
Retired Mr Gibson, also from Berwick, wanted to do something in his son’s name as the anniversary approached and so set up the petition under the name Project Alexander, calling for the road to be dualled from the town to Morpeth.
He set out to collect 10,000 signatures but has amassed 11,167, including over 1,100 on an e-petition.
Mr Gibson travelled to London to hand over the signatures with wife and Alexander’s mother Jennifer, and his son’s two children Alexander and Jaye .
The family handed in the signatures to a representative of David Cameron.
Mr Gibson then met transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin at the House of Commons to discuss the issue.
His mission came a day after the stretch of A1 claimed another life, with a van driver having been killed in a three-vehicle collision near Felton.
Mr Gibson said the road must be dualled to prevent more head-on collisions.
“If you stop these head-on collisions, you stop putting families to prospective traumas.
“He would have been alive today if he’d hit a barrier.
“It has taken his death for me to do this.
“I blame governments from the past, once they get in and get elected nothing is done.
“The road is dangerous, and I do not want families to go through what we have gone through.
“My grandsons are going through the rest of their life without their dad.”
Mr Gibson said he was pleased with the number of signatures he had collected.
“I would have got 100,000 if I had a full year.”
