A highly respected former Norfolk GP has said witnessing the effects of accidents on the Acle Straight still haunts him after 16 years of retirement.
Dr Ajay Kumar of Gorleston has supported the recent bout of calls to dual the Acle Straight following three accidents on that stretch of the A47 in two weeks.
Dr Kumar moved to Great Yarmouth in 1973 and worked as a senior house surgeon at the General Hospital on Deneside before becoming a GP in the 1980s.
Over his near-40-year career, Dr Kumar said he saw the "small, sleepy" town's population rise and the effect that had on the town's roads.
Dr Kumar said the town had three "accident blackspots" - opposite Hopton, a junction near Lowestoft Road and Links Road and the Acle Straight.
"Serious injury and death were the norm," said Dr Kumar.
"Following the construction of a roundabout and cutting trees opposite the last few houses on Lowestoft Road, accidents became history."
However, the retired GP said that while improvements had been made to most of these accident blackspots, the Acle Straight remains a road he often avoids if he is driving.
"As senior house surgeon, a GP and a clinical assistant in the Accident and Emergency department of James Paget Hospital, I attended many of the injured," Dr Kumar said.
"Some of the injuries I treated in A&E were life-changing.
"They have always have been in my thoughts."
Dr Kumar shared a memory of seeing a traffic accident involving a motorcyclist on the Acle Straight. An object fell out from a passing truck and landed in the path of the oncoming motorbike.
"The motorcyclist hit the object, flew off his motorbike and landed about 25 yards away," he said.
"Luckily, he landed on his side of the road as traffic was coming down the other lane.
"Had he been hit, he would have died on the spot."
Dr Kumar attended the scene and said the cyclist had "miraculously only sustained scratches".
As car use became more widespread in town, Dr Kumar said it has been clear for a very long time that the Acle Straight needs to be dualled to help save lives.
"For the last 50 years, I have been listening to four MPs who said they would dual this stretch.
"They tried their best to get it dualled without any success."
Dr Kumar acknowledged the possible solution of introducing a 50mph speed limit and speed cameras down the nine-mile stretch of the A47.
But he said these measures would cause too much congestion for emergency service vehicles and other road users at peak times.
Dr Kumar also said the current single-carriageway deters businesses from coming to the town.
"I compare the volume of traffic on the Acle Straight in the 1970s and 1980s and onward of 2015," he said.
"And there is simply no comparison.
"I have seen businesses moving away."
He added that a dual carriageway would also encourage more tourists to come to the town, improve the local economy and create more jobs.
However, the memories of treating patients who suffered road accidents remain the core reason for Dr Kumar's insistence the A47 must be dualled.
"For the rest of my life, I will never forget a car accident just outside Hopton before the roundabout was added," said Dr Kumar.
"A young couple died instantly.
"But their toddler in the back seat survived, making him an orphan.
"After the roundabout was constructed, the rate of accidents there drastically went down.
"I have waited 50 years to see the safety of the Acle Straight improved.
"Will the present generation have to wait another 50?"
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