THE tragic deaths of two popular young men, victims of road accidents on Exmoor within months of each other, brought nearly 140 members of the moorland community to a road safety event at Cutcombe market on Monday to look for ways of cutting the rising toll of death and injury on the area’s narrow roads, some attributed to excessive speed.

A silent crowd from the close-knit rural community heard experts at the multi-agency road safety event warn that increasing traffic levels and higher speeds were making Exmoor roads - already regarded as some of the most hazardous in the country - even more dangerous for local people.

"We must do something to prevent further tragedies of this sort," said the Rev David Weir, vicar of Exford, joint organiser of the event. "It was good to be able to acknowledge the grief that we feel in the community and share information about how we can do more to look after each other."

Trevor Coates, a 23-year-old father-to-be from Brompton Regis, died after the car in which he was a passenger hit a tree near East Anstey in December 2020. He was a member of Wiveliscombe Rugby Club and had previously played for Minehead Barbarians.

Timothy Gill, 27, of Exford, a popular member of the Exmoor community and captain of Winsford Cricket Club, was also a passenger in a car which collided with a tree at Exford last October. He died at the scene.

Mr Coates’ father, Steve, who spoke at the event, said later that the families had wanted to be involved.

"We just didn’t want anything like this to happen again and wanted to put something together which the people of Exmoor would listen to," he said. "My job was to reflect on what had happened and in the room you could hear a pin drop.

"We were so pleased that so many people came. We will never know if we can save more lives through what we did on Monday but we hope we did something towards that and the information from the event will be passed on."

Mr Coates added: "It was very difficult to go over what happened in front of the meeting but we have two other children and we felt strongly that we needed to be involved.

"Explaining to a crowded room what it’s like to lose a child in those circumstances was very hard. But if we can get just one person’s life saved in future by what we said it will have been worth it."

Mr Weir, who organised the event with Katherine Williams of the Exmoor Hill Farming Network, said the deaths of two much-loved young men within a year had devastated their families and friends.

"There are many things that can be done to cut the chances of tragic accidents, such as having a designated driver for groups going out for social events and thinking about end of evening planning," he said.

"We must help young people negotiate the challenges of rural life and isolation, and listen to what they think might help the situation."

Mr Weir added: "The focus of the event was to acknowledge the impact these tragedies have had on the community. I felt we had started a discussion which will be ongoing and is already leading to a great community response. The overwhelming feeling was that we all wanted to do something.

"I was delighted by the number who came and who wanted to talk about the subject in response to the impact of these tragedies on the community.

"It is vital to provide information and education for our young people so that they can make big decisions.

"Acknowledging the experience we have all been through as a community and thinking about ways in which we might help one another and enjoy our rural life safely must surely be the way forward."

The road safety roadshow was held with Devon and Somerset Fire Service, Somerset Road Safety Partnership, Avon and Somerset Police and the Farming Community Network. Exmoor Farmers hosted the event.

THE tragic deaths of two popular young men, victims of road accidents on Exmoor within months of each other, brought nearly 140 members of the moorland community to a road safety event at Cutcombe market on Monday to look for ways of cutting the rising toll of death and injury on the area’s narrow roads, some attributed to excessive speed.

A silent crowd from the close-knit rural community heard experts at the multi-agency road safety event warn that increasing traffic levels and higher speeds were making Exmoor roads - already regarded as some of the most hazardous in the country - even more dangerous for local people.

"We must do something to prevent further tragedies of this sort," said the Rev David Weir, vicar of Exford, joint organiser of the event. "It was good to be able to acknowledge the grief that we feel in the community and share information about how we can do more to look after each other."

Trevor Coates, a 23-year-old father-to-be from Brompton Regis, died after the car in which he was a passenger hit a tree near East Anstey in December 2020. He was a member of Wiveliscombe Rugby Club and had previously played for Minehead Barbarians.

Timothy Gill, 27, of Exford, a popular member of the Exmoor community and captain of Winsford Cricket Club, was also a passenger in a car which collided with a tree at Exford last October. He died at the scene.

Mr Coates’ father, Steve, who spoke at the event, said later that the families had wanted to be involved.

"We just didn’t want anything like this to happen again and wanted to put something together which the people of Exmoor would listen to," he said. "My job was to reflect on what had happened and in the room you could hear a pin drop.

"We were so pleased that so many people came. We will never know if we can save more lives through what we did on Monday but we hope we did something towards that and the information from the event will be passed on."

Mr Coates added: "It was very difficult to go over what happened in front of the meeting but we have two other children and we felt strongly that we needed to be involved.

"Explaining to a crowded room what it’s like to lose a child in those circumstances was very hard. But if we can get just one person’s life saved in future by what we said it will have been worth it."

Mr Weir, who organised the event with Katherine Williams of the Exmoor Hill Farming Network, said the deaths of two much-loved young men within a year had devastated their families and friends.

"There are many things that can be done to cut the chances of tragic accidents, such as having a designated driver for groups going out for social events and thinking about end of evening planning," he said.

"We must help young people negotiate the challenges of rural life and isolation, and listen to what they think might help the situation."

Mr Weir added: "The focus of the event was to acknowledge the impact these tragedies have had on the community. I felt we had started a discussion which will be ongoing and is already leading to a great community response. The overwhelming feeling was that we all wanted to do something.

"I was delighted by the number who came and who wanted to talk about the subject in response to the impact of these tragedies on the community.

"It is vital to provide information and education for our young people so that they can make big decisions.

"Acknowledging the experience we have all been through as a community and thinking about ways in which we might help one another and enjoy our rural life safely must surely be the way forward."

The road safety roadshow was held with Devon and Somerset Fire Service, Somerset Road Safety Partnership, Avon and Somerset Police and the Farming Community Network. Exmoor Farmers hosted the event.