Crash on A59 at Clitheroe fuels call for safety probe

11:10am Tuesday 26th February 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Emma Cruces, Reporter

The scene of the crash The scene of the crash

A TWO car collision on a notorious stretch of road has led to a call for a safety review.

The crash on the A59 at Clitheroe near the Sabden junction saw motorists walk away with minor injuries but it has renewed fears over the notorious stretch of highway.

Ribble Valley Council leader Michael Ranson said the incident showed a need for a renewed look into safety on the road.

Over the years there have been a number of high profile accidents on the road and fatalities.

The incident yesterday at 7.30am saw a collision after one of the vehicles crossed the central line and was struck by another.

Coun Ranson said: “It is not yet clear what happened but that road is notorious. The safety of the road can never be reviewed too often. It is important it is looked into properly.”

Highways councillor for Lancashire County Council Tim Ashton said he would be awaiting the police report to see if safety needed to be reviewed.

The two car collision closed the A59 during rush hour as emergency services responded to the accident involving a Ford Ka and a Fiat Bravo.

Firefighters used cutting equipment to remove the roof off the Ford Ka as a safety precaution in case of spinal injuries. Drivers of both vehicles were taken to hospital suffering minor injuries.

There was a road block on the A59 from the roundabout at Whalley Road into Clitheroe up until the Pendleton turn off. The crash caused traffic congestion on the A59 and in Clitheroe until just after 9am.

Last year Darwen father-of-two Ronald Birch, died on the A59 when his motorbike collided with a lorry near Sawley. In the past decade there have been more than 20 accidents on that stretch of the A59.

In August 2008, a 17-year-old boy died between Sawley Road and Mill Lane, near to the then County Foods factory, when his van collided with an on-coming Land Rover Discovery.

In May 2008, a 67-year-old cyclist died after he collided with a black Ford Focus.

Comments(12)

Old Alzheimer says...
11:30am Tue 26 Feb 13

Standing at the junction of the A59 and Pendle Road for ten minutes, at a busy time of day, will give you a good indication as to what the problem is, and IT'S NOT THE ROAD !!!

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shytalk says...
12:00pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Old Alzheimer wrote:
Standing at the junction of the A59 and Pendle Road for ten minutes, at a busy time of day, will give you a good indication as to what the problem is, and IT'S NOT THE ROAD !!!
Exactly..

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Anthony A Cooper says...
12:05pm Tue 26 Feb 13

The A59/Pendle Rd junction is very badly designed, This was done by the Highways Agency who then washed their hands of it when the road was 'de-trunked' and responsibility passed to Lancashire County Council who lack the funds to rebuild it. One major problem is the lack of any run off or acceleration lanes, for which there is ample room. The minor junctions to Standen Hall/Pendleton and Chatburn already had these, so why on earth did the Highways Agency decide not to provide them when they rebuilt this junction?

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cloud99 says...
12:31pm Tue 26 Feb 13

It doesn't matter how many safety reviews they do. The road isn't the problem, it's the people that drive on it that's the problem. Many times while driving this stretch of road, i see people pull out of junctions without looking, turn without indicating, overtake when it's not safe. It's these actions that make the road unsafe.

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spongsdad says...
1:04pm Tue 26 Feb 13

cloud99 wrote:
It doesn't matter how many safety reviews they do. The road isn't the problem, it's the people that drive on it that's the problem. Many times while driving this stretch of road, i see people pull out of junctions without looking, turn without indicating, overtake when it's not safe. It's these actions that make the road unsafe.
Actually, it's both. Accidents occur when a number of adverse circumstances coincide. Certainly I agree that motorists can be reckless in failing to signal or pulling out without looking, but if the junction is badly engineered, as this one clearly is, then the risks of serious accident are greatly increased. The maintaining authority for the road cannot just abdicate their responsibility any more than motorists can take unnecessary risks with impunity.

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peely says...
1:17pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Roads never killed anyone it's car drivers going too fast ! Simple ! A lot of drivers go far too fast for their own capabilities , that's when accidents happen!
Slow down for heavens sake !

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MJA says...
2:01pm Tue 26 Feb 13

This accident occurred because "one of the vehicles crossed the central line and was struck by another." That's got nothing to do with junction design. Especially as the Sabden junction is about a mile away from the scene of the accident.
I appreciate that the Sabden Road junction is a poor design so I take extra care when using it. Simple risk management.
Have a look at how many drivers are distracted by phones, radios, children, friends etc. Add inappropriate speed There's your problem.

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robotrobo says...
2:02pm Tue 26 Feb 13

i have witnessed 2 cars in the central reservation !, when theres only room for one, when turning right & also when i have indicated to turn off left coming from blackburn, you get some idiot still trying to overtake you on the outside on the single carriage roadway because they are in a rush , theres nowt wrong with the road.

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HarryBosch says...
2:32pm Tue 26 Feb 13

I agree that its drvers who cause the problem on this road.However, IMHO the road would benefit from a reduction of the speed limit to 50mph along the dual carriageway from Whalley/Wiswell to Pimlico Road. Simply because drivers can't be trusted not to treat it like a race track.

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MJA says...
2:54pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Here's another thing - there's a stupid sign that tells you to "SLOW DOWN" as you approach the junction. Is that from 60 to 57? 60 to 40? 60 to 25? Why not set a limit of 40mph if that's what you deem appropriate.

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lancs1985 says...
9:24am Wed 27 Feb 13

The road is perfectly fine to be onist with you it's the stupid folk what don't have a clue how to drive what are to blame

If there should be an improvement it should be at the junction for clitheroe n sabden instead of doing what they have they should of put a round about there

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Old Alzheimer says...
9:11pm Thu 28 Feb 13

peely wrote:
Roads never killed anyone it's car drivers going too fast ! Simple ! A lot of drivers go far too fast for their own capabilities , that's when accidents happen!
Slow down for heavens sake !
Correct Peely.
Drive at a speed so that you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear.

Problem solved.

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