Terence Gillard

Dr Jeane Rosa Mellani 
HM Assistant Coroner for West London  
25 Bagley’s Lane  
Fulham  
London SW6 2QA 

From the Parliamentary Under 
Secretary of State  

Great Minster House 
33 Horseferry Road 
London 
SW1P 4DR 

Tel: 
E-Mail: 

Web site: www.gov.uk/dft 

Our Ref: 

20 December 2024 

Dear Dr Mellani, 

RESPONSE TO REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE 
DEATHS 

Thank you for your report of 05 November 2024 made under the Coroners 
and Justice Act 2009 and the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013, 
following the inquest you conducted into the death of Terence Gillard. I am 
responding as the Minister for the Future of Roads. I was very sorry to hear of 
Terence’s death and my thoughts are with his loved ones.  

I am writing regarding your concern about the pedestrian crossing on the A4 
Great West Road, near the junction with Jersey Road, in Hounslow, West 
London. I note your concerns about the safety of this crossing.  

The highway authority, in this case Transport for London (TfL), is responsible 
for how traffic is managed on its roads. This includes the design and 
maintenance of traffic light junctions and any associated pedestrian 
crossings. While the Department for Transport issues guidance to highway 
authorities, the Department does not oversee or consent to traffic schemes of 
this nature.  

Transport for London has a duty under Section 122 of the Road Traffic 
Regulation Act 1984, to exercise its functions under the Act so as to secure 
the expeditious, convenient, and safe movement of vehicular and other traffic, 
including pedestrians, so far as practicable having regard to various matters 
including the amenity of the area through which the road runs. 

Traffic signals, including the signs and road markings required to create a 
junction and associated pedestrian facilities, are prescribed in the Traffic 
Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (TSRGD). Highway 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 authorities do not need Departmental consent to place the signs within this 
legislation on their roads. We provide good practice advice on the design of 
traffic signals, including pedestrian crossings and pedestrian facilities at 
junctions, in Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual, which is available free to 
download from our website. 

The Regulation 28 report said that you had received evidence from TfL of 
existing plans to re-design this pedestrian crossing, and TfL had said this was 
subject to the consent of the Department for Transport, the London Borough 
of Hounslow, public consultation, as well as funding considerations.  

I am not aware of any consents required from the Department to enable TfL 
to make changes to this site. I understand my officials have been in contact 
with TfL and it has confirmed that the new crossing designs are in TfL and the 
Borough's gift to implement, subject to funding and public consultation, and 
no DfT involvement is required.  

The Secretary of State has powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 
1984 to specially authorise signs not within TSRGD. A local authority may 
apply to the Department for authorisation, if it feels there is a specific local 
need not met by TSRGD. However, we have not received any such 
applications from TfL in relation to this site. 

On the issue of funding, the Government engages regularly with TfL to 
understand its investment plans and funding requirements. The Government 
announced £250 million capital funding in December 2023, and a further 
£485 million for the coming 2025/26 financial year at the Budget, for TfL’s 
major capital projects. This is in addition to almost £2.2 billion of business 
rates for transport retained by TfL in 2024/25. The Mayor of London and TfL 
consider, prioritise and approve its investment decisions. The re-design of the 
pedestrian crossing would be funded by TfL from revenue sources outside 
the Department’s funding.    

I hope you will understand why I consider that the Department does not need 
to take any action regarding this incident. I hope this is helpful.  

Best wishes, 

MINISTER FOR THE FUTURE OF ROADS

Coroner’s Officer 
West London Coroner’s Court 
25 Bagleys Lane 
Fulham 
London 
SW6 2QA 

, Interim Assistant Director 

Transport & Parking 
Regeneration, Housing & Environmental 
Services 
7 Bath Road 
Hounslow House 
Hounslow 
TW3 3EB 
Your contact: 
Direct Line:  
E-mail: 
Our Ref: 
Date:  04 March 2025 

Dear 

, 

Regulation 28: Prevention of future death report (Terence William Gillard - 
inquest 30/09/2024) 

I write on behalf of the London Borough of Hounslow about the inquest of Terence 
William Gillard which took place on 30th September 2024 at West London Coroner's 
Court. I am the Head of Traffic and Capital Delivery at the London Borough of 
Hounslow.    

I wish to express my sincere condolences and those of London Borough of 
Hounslow to Mr Gillard's family and friends.  

The Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report raises matters of concerns addressed 
to Department of Transport, Transport for London (TfL) and London Borough of 
Hounslow (LBH). Please accept this letter as LBH's response to the PFD report.  

This letter outlines the actions taken to date and those we intend to take to ensure a 
safer pedestrian crossing across the A4 Great West Road (A4) at its junction with 
Jersey Road in Hounslow.  

LBH's responsibility and the location of of the incident 

The incident took place on A4 which is part of the Transport for London Road 
Network (TLRN) and TfL is the Highways and Traffic Authority for roads that falls 
under this network. Similarly, TfL is responsible for road maintenance, traffic signs, 
traffic signals and road safety of TLRN. LBH is the Highway Authority for Jersey 
Road which forms a junction with the A4.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Actions taken by LBH  

Following the incident, we have had a number of discussions and site meetings with 
TfL to improve traffic conditions in the A4 especially for the vulnerable road users. 
We understand that TfL has undertaken a detailed study of the collision data in the 
area and is now reviewing the junction with a view to provide a formal pedestrian 
crossing facility at this location.  

The proposals being considered are amending the existing design to accommodate 
improvements as follows. 

- a signal-controlled crossing for pedestrian and cyclists across the A4, 

- A signal-controlled crossing for pedestrian and cyclists across Jersey Road (South 
and North) 

The above proposal once designed by TfL will be consulted on with us and we will 
ensure that the new design is not only technically sound but also aligns with the local 
users' needs. We expect these proposals to by finalised by TfL in 2025-26 with view 
to construct them in 2026-27. We will continue to work with TfL and all other 
stakeholders to secure a priority implementation of these important safety 
measures.  

We are also working with TfL to facilitate some interim temporary measures such as 
additional signs to warn pedestrians to take care when crossing the road at this 
location.  

I hope the above response is helpful, please do not hesitate to contact me if we can 
provide any further information on this subject. 

Yours sincerely,  

Head of Traffic & Capital Delivery

HM Assistant Coroner Dr Jeane Rosa Mellani  

West London Coroner’s Court  
25 Bagley's Lane  
Fulham  
London  
SW6 2QA 

19 December 2024 

Dear Dr Mellani 

Director  
Investment Planning 
Transport for London 
Palestra  
1 97 Blackfriars Road 
London SE1  8NJ 

www.tfl.gov.uk 

Regulation  28:  Prevention  of  Future  Deaths  report:  Terence  William  Gillard 
(Inquest 30/9/2024)  

I  write  on  behalf  of  Transport  for  London  (TfL)  with  regard  to  the  inquest  of 
Terence William Gillard which took place on 30 September 2024 at West London 
Coroner’s Court. I am the Director of Investment Planning at TfL.  

I am personally very sorry to hear of the tragic death of Mr Terrence Gillard and 
wish to express my sincere condolences and those of Transport for London (TfL) 
to Mr Gillard’s family and friends.  

On 5 November 2024, the Coroner issued a Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) 
report  raising  matters  of  concern  addressed  to  TfL,  the  London  Borough  of 
Hounslow  (LBH)  and  the  Department  for  Transport  (DfT).  Please  accept  this 
letter as TfL’s response to the PFD report.   

This letter outlines the actions already taken and those that we intend to take to 
provide  a  safer  pedestrian  crossing  across  the  A4  Great  West  Road  (A4)  at  its 
junction with Jersey Road in Hounslow.  

Background to TfL’s responsibilities and the location of the incident  

Responsibility  for  managing  London’s  road  network  is  shared  between  TfL, 
Highways England, and the 32 London boroughs, plus the City of London. TfL is 
the  Highway  and  Traffic  Authority  for  Greater  London  Authority  Roads  which  is 

 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 also  referred  to  as  the  Transport  for  London  Road  Network  (TLRN).    TfL  is 
responsible  for  road  maintenance,  traffic  signs,  traffic  control  systems,  road 
safety and traffic reduction on the TLRN.  

Highways England manages the national motorway network, including the M25, 
M1, M4 and M11.  The London boroughs are responsible for the remaining roads 
within their boundaries.    

TfL is the highway authority for the A4 in Hounslow. LBH is the highway authority 
for  Jersey Road which forms a junction with the  A4.   We  have  had  discussions 
with  LBH  regarding  our  joint  approach  to  improve  the  A4,  including  pedestrian 
safety in this area.   

The A4 was designed and constructed in the 1920s and has seen modifications 
to  its  operation since.  As  London  has grown, the  mix of  development  alongside 
the  A4  has  changed  from  that  of  historic  estates  (such  as  Osterley  Park)  and 
industrial uses to that of more predominantly residential and office buildings. TfL 
took  over  responsibility  for  the  A4  as  the  responsible  highway  authority  in  2000 
when TfL was created.  

The A4 is a busy and strategically important transport corridor from the West of 
the country into London, carrying in excess of 27,000 vehicles a day. It is a dual 
carriageway  typically  of  six  lanes,  increasing  to  seven  lanes  at  this  location  to 
accommodate  a  right  turn  lane  into  Jersey  Road  south  (towards  Hounslow).  At 
the time of the tragic incident involving Mr Gillard, the speed limit was 40mph; it is 
now 30mph.   

Road safety, particularly the reduction of personal injuries, is core to our strategic 
aims  at  TfL.  We  actively  seek  to  reduce  collisions  across  the  whole  of  London 
with  initiatives  detailed  in  the  Mayor’s  Transport  Strategy  (March  2018)  and  the 
Vision  Zero  Action  Plan  (July  2018).  These  policy  documents  set  our  vision  to 
eliminate  all  deaths  and  serious  injuries  by  2041,  as  well  as  reduce  the  road 
danger on our road network. These documents outline the important first stages 
in  a  wide-ranging  programme  of  actions  that  we,  as  an  organisation,  are  taking 
now  and  over  the  coming  years.    To  help  achieve  these  aims  we  work  closely 
with the London Boroughs and the Metropolitan Police Service to make London’s 
roads safer.    

It  is  our  standard  practice,  and  part  of  our  wider  commitment  to  Vision  Zero,  to 
organise  a  visit  to  the  site  of  every  fatal  incident  that  occurs  on  TfL’s  road 
network.  The purpose  of the  visit  is to  help us understand  any factors that may 
have  been  relevant  to  the  incident  occurring.    We  also  look  for  any  immediate 
concerns  which  may  require  urgent  remedial  work,  e.g.  poor  condition  of  the 
road.  In this case, the initial site visit by TfL took place on 27 September 2022, 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 no  immediate  concerns  were  flagged.  Representatives  from  TfL  and  LBH  also 
met with Mr Gillard’s family and 

, MP in March 2023.  

We  undertook  a  further  site  visit  on  14  September  2023  once  we  had  received 
more detailed information from the Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit.   

We also undertook a more in-depth desktop study of the wider collision history in 
the  area  along  with  our  road  risk  priority  ranked  junctions  dataset,  and 
determined  that  it  was  appropriate  to  undertake  a  review  of  the  junction  with  a 
view to providing formal crossings at this location.  

In  the  three  years  up  to  31  July  2024,  there  were  six  collisions  within  a  50m 
radius  of  the  A4  junction  with  Jersey  Road.  The  six  collisions  involved  seven 
casualties. Of these, one collision involved the serious injury of a pedestrian and 
the another involved the serious injury of a rider of an unknown vehicle type. Of 
the  slight  injuries,  two  casualties  involved  drivers  of  cars,  one  involved  a  pedal 
cyclist  and  one  involved  a  motorcyclist.  One  was  tragically  fatal  (the  incident 
involving Mr Gillard).  

Proposals for location in vicinity of accident (subject to public engagement 
and/or consultation)  

As  previously  advised  at  the  inquest,  we  are  developing  a  formal  crossing 
proposal at this location.  The proposals are as follows:   

• A signalised crossing facility for pedestrians and cyclists across the A4;  
•  A  signalised  crossing  facility  for  pedestrians  and  cyclists  across  Jersey  Road 
(South);   
•  A  signalised  crossing  facility  for  pedestrians  and  cyclists  across  Jersey  Road 
(North); and   
• Amendments to the highway layout on the A4, Jersey Road and Jersey Parade 
to facilitate the above crossings.   

As my colleague 
 advised during the inquest, it is likely that delivery 
of the scheme will take place in 2026, to enable time for the completion of traffic 
modelling,  public  engagement,  concept  and  detailed  design  and  contractor 
mobilisation  (including  relocating  any  utility  services  that  are  required  to  be 
moved by statutory undertakers as part of scheme delivery).   

There are a number of governance steps, known as stage gates, that we need to 
work  through  before  a  scheme  can  be  confirmed  for  implementation.  We  are 
currently at Stage 2 (Option Selection), which is where we have designs for the 
improvement works which we are assessing in more detail. We are undertaking 
further detailed traffic modelling for which further traffic data collection is required 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 from  nearby  junctions  along  the  A4.  These  traffic  surveys  are  planned  to  take 
place  in  early  January  2025  so  that  this  data  can  be  used  for  traffic  modelling 
early in Spring 2025, in order to analyse the impact any proposals may have on 
the  traffic  flow.  Once  we  have  certainty  that  the  designs  are  viable,  we  will 
proceed to Stage 3 (Concept Design), where we will refine the design and ensure 
that it can be constructed as planned. This is also the point at which we start to 
estimate  the  cost  of  the  works  and  confirm  the  budget  required  to  deliver  the 
crossing.  

TfL  is  doing  all  it  can  to  expedite  this  process  safely,  we  undertake  traffic 
modelling to ensure that any changes are safe for all road users, that the designs 
are  safe  and  work  in  practice.    Public  engagement  is  essential  so  that  we  can 
explain  the  proposals  to  local  residents  and  the  rationale  behind  them.    It  also 
provides an opportunity for the public to raise any concerns for our consideration.    

LBH  have  already  indicated  that  they  are  supportive  of  our  plans.  We  will  work 
with  the  LBH  to  enter  into  agreements  to  undertake  any  minor  works  on  their 
road network that may be required to facilitate delivery of the scheme.  

Subject  to  confirmation  that  the  scheme  is  deliverable,  TfL  will  monitor  the 
operation  and  performance  of  these  new  crossings  post-implementation  for  a 
period  of  at  least  48  months.  This  will  include  a  post-construction  road  safety 
audit and a review of collisions since the crossing has been introduced.   

Matters of concern raised in the PFD report  

I  now  turn  to  the  matters  of  concern  noted  in  your  report.  I  provide  clarity  on 
some of the items raised:  

a.  You note that  the  pedestrian  crossing area spans across  a dual  carriageway 
subject to a speed limit of 40mph. At the time of the tragic incident involving Mr 
Gillard this was the speed limit.  On 18 March 2024 a traffic order came into force 
to  reduce the speed  limit  from  40mph  to  30mph as part  of  our Lowering Speed 
Limits Programme.   

b.  You  have  observed  that  the  crossing  point  currently  leads  pedestrians  into  a 
cycle  lane.  We  are  working  on  new  designs  that  propose  to  make  the  area 
around  the  crossing  points  a  “shared  space”  to  encourage  cyclists  and 
pedestrians to be respectful of each other’s needs, the proposals are subject to 
engagement. There will be signage installed advising users that this is a shared 
space for pedestrians and cyclists.   

c.  You  note  that  at  no  point  during  the  normal  use  of  the  traffic  light-controlled 
junction does traffic cease to flow at the marked crossing area, making it difficult 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 for pedestrians to judge when and from where the next vehicle would approach. 
This means that pedestrians will need to use their own judgment as to when it is 
safe  to  cross  this  road  without  the  aid  of  pedestrian  crossing  lights.  For  clarity, 
vehicles are held at the stop lines at different times of the operation of the traffic 
signals. This is particularly the case when walking from the northern pavement to 
the  traffic  islands.  The  difficulty  is  predominantly  when  crossing  between  the 
traffic  islands  and  the  southern  pavement.  This  is  where  there  is  less  time  to 
cross  as  the  only  time  traffic  ceases  to  flow  is  during  a  period  known  as  the 
“intergreen” – when one traffic movement is ceasing and another one is starting 
in response to a change in the traffic signals. We are seeking to address this and 
propose that the new pedestrian crossing design holds traffic on the A4 to allow 
the pedestrians time to cross the road. The crossing will include the provision of a 
push button unit, rotating cone (for visually impaired people) and a green person 
signal.  

d. With regards to other collisions involving pedestrians and moving vehicles, we 
have undertaken a thorough review of the nearby collisions based on the historic 
collision  data  and  will  consider  any  other  changes  to  the  highway  layout  which 
may  reduce  collision  risk  in  addition  to  changes  to  the  crossing  itself.  For 
example, we are also proposing changes to the service road next to the crossing 
to make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to access the crossing.  

e.  Finally,  I  turn  to  your  concern  that  the  implementation  of  TfL’s  plans  to 
redesign the pedestrian crossing will not be until 2026 and it remains subject to 
the consent of the DfT and LBH, the outcome of any public consultation as well 
as funding considerations. I explain above the steps which must be undertaken, 
and the timings involved with delivering appropriate and safe improvement works.  
In  relation  to  consent  from  LBH,  this  is  only  necessary  in  relation  to  any  minor 
works on their road network that may be required to facilitate delivery of the wider 
scheme.    In  addition,  there  is  no  requirement  for  consent  or  approvals  to  be 
obtained  from  the  DfT.    As  advised  by 
  in  evidence  at  the  inquest, 
proposed improvement schemes of this scale and complexity can often take up 
to  five  years  to  implement  due  to  the  stages  that  must  be  completed  to  ensure 
the proposed works are properly designed, they are safe and are viable.  We are 
aiming for these proposed improvement works to be implemented in three years, 
we have set out above the progress we have made.    

Interim temporary measures   

In the short term and further to our update to you dated 31 October 2024, it is our 
intention to place temporary customer information signage that warn pedestrians 
to  take  care  when  crossing  the  road  at  this  junction.  This  is  intended  as  a 
temporary  step  until  a  permanent  crossing  scheme  can  be  implemented.  Our 
supplier  is  working  towards  implementing  within  the  timeframe  that  we  advised 

 
 
 
 
 previously,  but  due  constraints  with  the  wider  supply  chain  and  the  need  for 
further technical review, they will not be in place until January 2025.   

We  would  be  happy  to  provide  you  with  an  update  in  respect  of  the  timings  for 
implementing  the  scheme,  as  well  as  copies  of  pictures  of  the  customer 
information once this has been placed at the junction.  

I hope the above response is helpful and please do not hesitate to contact me if I 
can provide any further information.   

Yours sincerely 

Director, Investment Planning 
Email: