Your Press
Get in touch: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting YORK to 80360 or send an email »
Top cop’s road carnage anger
10:37am Wednesday 29th August 2007
Comments (26)A TOP cop has hit out in the wake of a weekend of carnage on North Yorkshire's roads.
Despite the efforts of officers engaged on Operation Helical, the force's tough-line road safety initiative, two motorcyclists were killed, another four were seriously injured and a pedestrian was knocked down and seriously hurt in separate incidents spread across the county during the course of the Bank Holiday weekend.
Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs: "The Bank Holiday weekend has been marred by the number of casualties on our roads.
"Two people have lost their lives and several others are seriously injured, bringing grief and tragedy to themselves and their loved ones.
"We will continue with our tough road safety enforcement campaign, but drivers and riders must take responsibility for their actions if these appalling statistics are to be reversed."
Officers from the road policing unit spent more than 300 hours on the county's roads on Saturday and Sunday and stopped well over 400 vehicles in total.
They issued 75 fixed penalty tickets for speeding, with another 28 motorists reported for summons, three of whom were fast-tracked for exceeding the limit by more than 30mph.
A further 33 fixed penalties were issued for seat belt offences, and 11 vehicles were seized because the driver was uninsured or did not have a driving licence.
A motorcyclist who died on Sunday on an unclassified road off the A19, at the entrance to the Sidings Hotel, near Shipton-by-Beningbrough, has been named as 62-year-old Alan Wilkinson, from Skelton.
Mr Wilkinson's Honda CBR 1000 was involved in a collision with a Mitsubishi Carisma car at about noon.
An inquest into his death was being opened and adjourned by coroners in York today.
A second biker died after crashing into a trailer pulled by a tractor at about 12.40pm on Monday, on the A63, just north of Selby Fork, near the Quality Hotel.
Police have not yet released any details about the biker, who was riding a black Harley Davidson.
Police are continuing to investigate four more crashes over the Bank Holiday which left four people needing hospital treatment.
A 35-year-old man who suffered "very serious injuries" when his 850cc Yamaha motorbike crashed into a road sign, is in a "critical, but stable" condition.
The biker, from Padiham, in Lancashire, was riding with five other motorcyclists when his bike left the A661 between Follifoot and Spofforth, east of Harrogate, at about 10.15am on Monday.
He was taken to Harrogate Hospital by air ambulance, but later transferred to Leeds General Infirmary.
The other accidents happened near Helmsley, on the B61 south of Harrogate and at Hellifield, near Settle.
- A motorcyclist from North Yorkshire was killed in a crash with a car near Inveraray, in Scotland. Deborah Lynne Stearne, 42, from Knaresborough, died when her bike was in collision with a Renault Clio on the A83 Inveraray to Arrochar road. Strathclyde Police said a 73-year-old man has been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with the incident.
Your Say YourYork Press
X, At Work says...
11:25am Wed 29 Aug 07
Wey Hey, says...
11:36am Wed 29 Aug 07
Someone may be able to answer a question, why are tractors not made to go at a sensible speed when on public road? surely this would make it safer, (i'm not saying 60mph) but sensible not 20mph.
I seem to remember that when I worked on a farm tractors top speed was 30mph, without pulling anything. August time you will always see lot more tractors on the road its harvest time.
X, At Work says...
11:46am Wed 29 Aug 07
I seem to remember that when I worked on a farm tractors top speed was 30mph, without pulling anything. August time you will always see lot more tractors on the road its harvest time.
Thanks for that....
Rust_Never_Sleeps, says...
11:48am Wed 29 Aug 07
Cari, York says...
12:06pm Wed 29 Aug 07
We do have to have tax discs on display on all tractors, combines, sprayers, etc that go on the road.
As for testing, I'm not entirely sure how that one stands.
smudge, York says...
12:20pm Wed 29 Aug 07
Lez, York says...
12:36pm Wed 29 Aug 07
bornagainbiker, York says...
12:56pm Wed 29 Aug 07
exasperated, York says...
12:58pm Wed 29 Aug 07
MissConstrood, york says...
1:22pm Wed 29 Aug 07
peter k, york says...
1:41pm Wed 29 Aug 07
"We will continue with our tough road safety enforcement campaign, but drivers and riders must take responsibility for their actions if these appalling statistics are to be reversed."
when will they learn that the cause of the increase in accidents is proportional to the increase in road traffic over the bank holiday weekend ? Im sure operation helical has had no effect whatsoever in stopping these accidents and obviously some accidents are out of everyones control.
i mean how has their operation prevented any of the above crashes ?
I dont see anywhere in the reports that states that the above people were speeding or driving dangerously ?
However that is certainly the impression that the report is creating and that it is their own fault:
"We will continue with our tough road safety enforcement campaign, but drivers and riders must take responsibility for their actions if these appalling statistics are to be reversed."
BUT HEY - IM SURE IT WAS SOME BOY RACERS FAULT WITH HIS LOUD HALFORDS EXHAUST that caused the above accidents.....these will just be added to the figures that make us all believe that they were caused by speeding motorists.
Bemused, says...
2:05pm Wed 29 Aug 07
two motorcyclists were killed, another four were seriously injured and a pedestrian was knocked down and seriously hurt in separate incidents spread across the county during the course of the Bank Holiday weekend.
A quiet Bank Holiday then, hardly carnage. Bearing in mind the size of North Yorkshire, and miles of road, and that it is a tourist destination on Bank Holidays, **** all really.
Pedro, says...
2:22pm Wed 29 Aug 07
titch, york says...
4:04pm Wed 29 Aug 07
Frank, Strensall says...
4:06pm Wed 29 Aug 07
ohsotired, york says...
4:17pm Wed 29 Aug 07
Bemused wrote:I doubt you would say that if one of them was someone you loved.
two motorcyclists were killed, another four were seriously injured and a pedestrian was knocked down and seriously hurt in separate incidents spread across the county during the course of the Bank Holiday weekend.A quiet Bank Holiday then, hardly carnage. Bearing in mind the size of North Yorkshire, and miles of road, and that it is a tourist destination on Bank Holidays, **** all really.
bornagainbiker, York says...
4:47pm Wed 29 Aug 07
As a motorcyclist I still remain very wary of cars that do indeed "pull over" especially in very slow almost static traffic as their next move could indeed be a U-turn to avoid the queues. If you don't believe me then drive along the A1237 towards the A64 Scarborough end on a busy bank-holiday saturday and watch the little bleeders pirouetting like the Bolshoi Ballet Troupe. The car on days like this is usually full of screaming kids, an irritable wife, no-aircon and a driver that has "driving with due consideration" outside his top ten in the list of things to be doing whilst driving. Been there, seen it and avoided it!
Dachande07, York says...
5:01pm Wed 29 Aug 07
Bemused, says...
5:13pm Wed 29 Aug 07
I doubt you would say that if one of them was someone you loved.
It would be a personal tragedy, but still not 'carnage' or 'appalling statistics'.
X, At Work says...
5:37pm Wed 29 Aug 07
X - can you please explain why it is necessary for you to pull over? If it is 'safe' for the motorbike to overtake then he would have the whole of the other side of the road to use. It is exactly this kind of 'squeeze through when it isn't really safe' attitude which causes the accidents. By pulling over to the gutter you are encouraging bikers to think that it is acceptable for them to overtake in the face of oncoming traffic. The only vehicles you should be pulling over for have flashing blue lights on them.
It isn't necessary to pull over, but it makes sense to pull over to the edge of the road to let them through, its also not necessary to pull over for anything with blue lights on, its Courtesy they have to obay the same rules as we do even if they have their lights on (i do pull over for them, i was making a point).
Giving that most bikers have the power to pass whenever they want (but don't)they wait until there is a space. if another driver is using all of the road ie. driving on the white lines int he middle it makes it very difficult. just move over, most will wave and say thanks.
No News Is Good News, York says...
8:00pm Wed 29 Aug 07
Tubbs, York says...
8:30pm Wed 29 Aug 07
viper, says...
8:45pm Wed 29 Aug 07
motorcyclists don't overtake these days they "Squeeze" past even when there's double white lines.
If you move over your putting yourself at risk - and the bikers.
Stay in the middle of the lane and let the biker over take properly when it's safe to do so. But they don't, they race about, under take, over take on bends, over take on roundabouts, and you wonder why there's been so many motorcyclist deaths.
As for the "stats" involving more cars..well yeah, check out the stats on the Ratio of Cars on the road compared to bikes, now have a think why there's more.
Bikers need to observe the rules of the road more, and not speed around like bl00dy lunatics.
and yes I have a motorcycle as well as a car.
Peter, york says...
10:28pm Wed 29 Aug 07
There are very very few genuine accidents, that is why police call them Road Traffic Collisions RTC or Road Traffic Incident RTI, as invariably the collision is due to somebody's error, therefore not a genuine accident.
Bemused, says...
5:25pm Thu 30 Aug 07
Road deaths: EU comparison, 2001: Social Trends 34
Last Updated: 13/2/04
Description: The United Kingdom has a good record for road safety compared with most other EU countries. In 2001 it had the lowest road death rate in the EU, at 6.1 per 100,000 population. The highest road death rate in the EU was in Portugal, at 21.0 per 100,000 population (in 2000). The UK rate was also substantially lower than those for other industrialised nations such as Japan (7.9 per 100,000 population), Australia (9.0) and the United States (14.8).
Since 1970 UK Fatal Road Accidents have halved.
We have the 4th lowest accident rate per million inhabitants and the 5th lowest per 100,00 passenger cars
This whole brouhaha about non existent 'carnage' is a smokescreen to cover the loss of control over the crime and disorder that blights the lives of thousands.
Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs
In this section
- Family of Lisette Dugmore in anniversary plea
- Motorcyclist killed and lorry driver seriously injured
- Huntington School caretaker breaks back in ladder fall
- MP Hugh Bayley: Burnholme Community College should remain open
- Elliot Minor wows Copmanthorpe Carnival crowd during an action-packed weekend of events in and around York
- Hundreds of fish dead in York river
- Faith helps Peter Lawrence to cope with disappearance of Claudia
- Grandfather starts not-for-profit wedding car business in aid of muscular dystrophy
- City of York Council in push for safer junctions
- Renaissance Project in Sherburn-in-Elmet set for go-ahead
Sponsored Links
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
X, At Work says...
11:24am Wed 29 Aug 07
I was out and about at the weekend and i was overtaken my many motorbikes on the Whitby road after pickering, I however moved over to the edge of the road to allow the bikes to come through. I saw on many occasions the car in front of me blocking the motorbike from passing and not only putting the motorcyclist at risk but himself and us as the people behind.
A little bit of common sense goes a long way, yes some bikers drive too fast, some car drivers do too. but they ARE going to pass you, if you move over and let them past when its safe to do so its much safer then them finding a small gap and going for it.
The only problems i had on the road at the weekend was the tractors, heck there were a lot of them.
Someone may be able to answer a question, why are tractors not made to go at a sensible speed when on public road? surely this would make it safer, (i'm not saying 60mph) but sensible not 20mph.