The family and friends of a man who died on the A505 near Royston are pushing for changes on the road where he lost his life – to save another family from going through what they have.

Karl Bebbington was struck by a lorry just after 4am on October 14 as he walked along the bypass between the A10 and the A1198, north of Royston.

Following the tragedy, friend Sarah Arnold has started the online petition to build a pedestrian footpath on the road between the A10 and the Baldock Road roundabouts.

Karl’s sister Amy, 20, said: “Sarah is a good friend of mine and Karl’s so she wanted to do something – Karl wasn’t the first person to die on these roads, and he won’t be the last unless something is done.

“People use that road to go to Bassingbourn and Melbourn, I’ve been there at night and it’s dark.

Royston Crow: A busy section of the A505 just north of Royston close to where Karl Bebbington was struck by a lorry and died. Picture: Danny LooA busy section of the A505 just north of Royston close to where Karl Bebbington was struck by a lorry and died. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

“It would be a good idea to get a path there, there’s just a grass verge and you don’t stand a chance against a lorry.

I don’t want people to go through what we have – it was a horrible, tragic accident.

“People are becoming more aware of the dangers of how dark and unsafe that road is, visibilty is terrible. We want this petition to get bigger and bigger so something is done about it.”

Amy said the family think Karl, 27, was taking the 20-minute walk from the Coombelands estate to McDonalds after a night out.

He died instantly when he was struck.

Amy said: “I feel sorry for the lorry driver, he didn’t get up that day thinking he was going to hit someone,

“It was a tragic accident that he’s going to live with for the rest of his life.

“It’s no one’s fault. He wasn’t even sure if he had hit anyone when he made the call. If there were lights maybe he would have seen him, if there was a pathway Karl wouldn’t have been hit.

“We want to do something about it. We pay our taxes so why shouldn’t we try to make changes where they are needed?

“It has changed us as a family and brought us closer together, and now we will always be doing something to remember Karl.

“He was the life and soul of the party, and after his funeral we had a little party to remember him. Of course it didn’t feel right because he wasn’t there.

“It doesn’t feel real, there will be firsts – the first Christmas, his birthday next year, all the time there are reminders of Karl, and we want to keep his memory going and raise awareness of the problems on this road. We don’t want this to happen to another family.”

Sarah, 19, who works behind the bar at the Green Man pub and started the petition, said: “I’ve known Karl since the first day he moved to Royston, he was like a big brother to me.

“We were out with him that night, before I went to my fiance’s house.

“When he heard the news we couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t confirmed at first, but when it was I was devastated.

“Me and Karl’s other friends thought we needed to get a petition going for something to be done.

“It has more than 700 signatures –I have had so many people contact me and I am pleased with the support. We just want it to keep going for Karl.”

To view the petition go to change.org/p/town-mayor-councillor.