Pair have lucky escape after A46 smash

Gary Smee

24 January. Updated: 24 January 12:41

A DRIVER and his passenger had a lucky escape after a trailer came loose and smashed through their car windscreen.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the twin-axle trailer, which was being pulled by a Land Rover Discovery, weaving back and forth before it reared up and hit a Mercedes travelling in the opposite direction on the A46 bypass near Sedgeberrow on Friday (January 21) at just after 7.15am.
The horrifying incident closed road for almost three hours as firefighters battled to free the passenger in the Mercedes by removing the roof with hydraulic cutters.
The man, believed to have been in his 40s, was immobilised using a spinal board and taken to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch with non life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the car suffered minor injuries and the driver of the Land Rover was unhurt.
Julian Jenkins, watch manager at Evesham Fire Station, said the consequences could have been far more serious.
"I think the men can count themselves very lucky because there were bits of wood sticking into the car which just missed them," he said.
Police are appealing for witnesses.
PC Matthew Pedrick, investigating, said: "We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the collision or either of the vehicles in the moments leading up to it.
"This took place on a busy road at the beginning of rush-hour so I anticipate a number of people may have information."
Anyone with information should call police on 0300 333 3000 or Crimestoppers anonymouly on 0800 555 111.

Woman in critical condition after trailer crash

Woman in critical condition after trailer crash

5:28pm Sunday 5th September 2010

A woman is in a critical condition after her car was hit by a runaway trailer.

She was driving a Saab convertible along the A267 near Wellshurst Golf Club, Hellingly, just after 12.30pm when the trailer, being pulled by a Land Rover in the opposite carriageway, broke free.

The motorist suffered potentially life threatening injuries and was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital by the Surrey Air Ambulance.

Her passenger, a woman in her 60s, was taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the Land Rover, a 38-year-old man from Herstmonceux, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of careless or dangerous driving.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Lucky to be alive after trailer smashed into home

Published Date: 05 June 2010

By Richard Blackledge

News Reporter

A FORMER steelworker aged 92 is "lucky to be alive" today - after a runaway farm trailer careered loose from a tractor and smashed into the front of his bungalow.

Fred Cheetham was enjoying a quiet afternoon sitting in his favourite chair in his living room when the 25ft trailer - which had broken away from its tractor unit - crashed into his property, launching him from his armchair.

Fred's son Stuart Cheetham, 60, says his startled dad is "shaken up" but unhurt by the freak accident, and called his lucky escape "a miracle".

Stuart said the trailer disconnected from the tractor as it was travelling up High Street onto Haugh Road in Rawmarsh, Rotherham, before hurtling around 40 yards down an incline and crashing into his dad's home in High Street.

"He's lucky to get away with his life," said Stuart. "His home is at the corner at the top of High Street. The trailer ran back down the hill, then straight into the bungalow.

"The front of the bungalow is crushed, it's pushed everything inside. My dad was sitting in the corner at the side of the window - the force actually spun his chair around where he was sitting!

"It's a miracle he's alive."

Stuart, who lives in Thrybergh, was visiting his dad at the time of the accident, and said he heard a "big explosion" as the trailer crashed into the bungalow.

"It was a fairly big bang, it just sounded like a big explosion. I was in the passage leading from the front door, and as soon as it happened I screamed and went to see if he was alright.

"He seemed to be okay. It was me that was shocked, more so than my dad."

Stuart said the impact sent bricks and masonry flying down the passageway, and that he was hit by a concrete breezeblock, but escaped injury.

Fred was born in Rawmarsh in 1917, and worked at Parkgate Iron and Steel before moving to Blackpool with his wife, Stella, in 1969. Within months, she died tragically of leukaemia aged 45, leaving Fred a widower for over 40 years.

"He's lived through nearly two world wars," said Stuart, the youngest of their three sons. "We fetched him back to Rawmarsh two-and-a-half years ago to live near us."

Fred will now be moved to emergency accommodation while his bungalow is repaired.

"He's got to move out of his home now, it's too dangerous for him to stay," Stuart said.

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Boy seriously injured after loose trailer smashes into car The 10-year-old boy and the 65-year-old driver of the car were airlifted to Aberdeen Roya

Boy seriously injured after loose trailer smashes into car

The 10-year-old boy and the 65-year-old driver of the car were airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary following the crash.

A ten-year-old boy has been seriously injured after a car was apparently struck by a detached trailer.

The boy and the 65-year-old driver of the car were airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary following the crash around a mile north of Turriff.

The incident involving a Kia Sedona people carrier and a tractor towing the trailer happened at around 8.50am on Tuesday on the A947 Turriff to Banff road.

Roads policing Inspector Mike McDonald said: "The trailer appears to have become detached from the tractor and collided with the Kia.

"Our enquiries are continuing and local diversions are in place while a full accident investigation takes place."

The two other passengers in the Kia - 50-year-old woman and another child - were treated on the scene but their injuries are not thought to be serious. The tractor driver was uninjured.

The Kia was driving south on the A947, while the tractor was travelling north.

Last updated: 06 October 2009, 15:41

Towed boat with no lights hit by lorry on A194M

Sep 23 2009 by Linda Richards, Evening Chronicle

SHIPWRECKED - and it didn’t even happen at sea.

That was the fate of the Lisa P pleasure boat when a truck ploughed into it as it was being towed on a trailer on the A194M in Gateshead.

With no lights on the back of the trailer being pulled by a Range Rover on an unlit section of the road near Follingsby Interchange, it was a sitting duck, a court heard.

Minutes earlier another motorist had a near miss with the unlit trailer and alerted police. But before officers could take action, a 27-tonne HGV smashed into the back of the trailer.

The Range Rover and trailer were shunted 100 yards up the road. The Range Rover was damaged, the trailer and boat were destroyed but no-one was hurt.

Range Rover driver Neal Glendenning faced the music at Gateshead Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to using a trailer in a condition likely to cause danger or injury.

JPs heard everything was shipshape until the 52-year-old, from Front Street, Leadgate, County Durham, hit an unlit section of the motorway at around 7.45pm on March 3.

Prosecutor Kim Elder said: “A witness contacted the police because he had seen a vehicle on the A194M with no type of lighting or reflectors which caused him to swerve and narrowly avoid a collision with it.

“The witness felt so strongly about the vehicle being driven dangerously he stopped and called the police. He thought it wouldn’t be long before there was a collision.”

And that’s exactly what happened when a lorry driver with 38 years’ experience came up behind the trailer.

Miss Elder said the driver, who was carrying pallets, was driving at between 35 and 40mph when he suddenly hit something.

“It was only after the collision when he got out that he realised he had crashed into a boat,” she said. “His vehicle was substantially damaged at the front end.”

A police collision investigator concluded the trailer was home made and not fit for its purpose.

And that there was no lighting at all on the back of the trailer because the cable was not long enough to reach the power point.

John Williams, defending, said the accident has been very costly for Glendenning.

“The boat had only third party insurance and that was written off with a £5,000 loss,” he said.

Magistrates fined Glendenning £85 with £55 costs. His licence was also endorsed.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Seeing the boat destroyed must have been a painful experience for its owner. It is only good fortune that no-one was seriously injured or killed.”

Fresh demand for 'MoT' trailer tests

Friday, September 25, 2009, 09:30

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A COUNCILLOR campaigning for an MoT-style test for trailers after the death of a four-year-old boy says a change in the law has not gone far enough.

The Department of Transport recently added a check of the towing hitch to the MOT test for cars.

But Juliette Blake, a Derbyshire county councillor, also wants an annual test of road-worthiness for trailers, and has now written to the Government.

It is the latest step in her fight for tougher laws after Finlay Martin was killed by a runaway trailer in 2007.

The youngster, of Old Road, Heage, was walking with his mother, Zoe, 32, when he was hit. She suffered serious injuries.

An investigation after Finlay's death found that the trailer involved had defective brakes, and that a cable which should have activated the brakes when the vehicle became detached from the car was missing.

Trailers are not subject to annual MoT-style tests, but there is a legal requirement to keep them roadworthy. Coun Blake said: "If there was a crash next week in which 60 schoolchildren on a bus on the motorway were killed by a runaway trailer, there would be public outrage.

"We would see Gordon Brown on television, promising to introduce MoTs.

"By that time it would be too late – 60 parents would have to go through the living hell that Zoe and Wayne Martin have to endure for the rest of their lives, thanks to an unroadworthy trailer, which had seen no maintenance in 30 years, smashing into their sweet little four-year-old boy, Finlay."

Since Finlay's death, Coun Blake has collected 1,500 names on a petition calling for an annual compulsory test of roadworthiness for all trailers.

She also got Derbyshire police to carry out a series of roadside checks, including one in July 2008, which found that 80% of trailers stopped were defective. Problems included corrosion, missing breakaway cables, worn towing hitches and defective brakes.

In September 2008, Mrs Blake wrote to Jim Fitzpatrick, the-then Parliamentary undersecretary of state at the Department for Transport, but claimed she had received no reply.

She has now written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Andrew Adonis, demanding changes to the law.

"We need MoTs for trailers full stop," said Mrs Blake, Derbyshire county councillor and Amber Valley borough councillor for Heage, and the leader of Ripley Town Council.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said it was looking at whether a statutory testing regime was needed for light trailers.

She said: "The evidence we have to date suggests most accidents involving light trailers are not caused by maintenance defects on the trailer.

"Many are caused by the way the towing vehicle was driven or occur because the trailer was not connected to the towing vehicle correctly, or was overloaded. These could be rectified by an MoT test"

Loose Trailer Slames Into Car.. Ex-firefighter and daughter, 6, help at Stourport crash

Ex-firefighter and daughter, 6, help at Stourport crash

2:53pm Monday 17th August 2009

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AN EX-firefighter and his six-year-old daughter sprang into action when a trailer crashed into a car in Stourport.

A flatbed trailer had come unhooked from a Peugeot 406 estate and hit a Citroen Xsara travelling in the opposite direction in Wilden Lane at about 6.15pm yesterday.

Jim Bainbridge, who was taking his daughter Eleanor to Stourport Swimming Baths, was driving behind the trailer when it came loose.

The car that was hit contained a husband and wife with their two daughters, aged about two and four years old.

While Mr Bainbridge tended to the woman, who was later taken to hospital with a cracked vertebrae, Eleanor comforted the young children on the side of the road.

He explained: “To be fair to Eleanor, because she’s only six, she was very calm and sat and looked after the girls to keep them out of the road.

“Afterwards, when we got home, she was very interested with what would happen to the family next and if they would have gone to hospital.

“She wasn’t upset in any way and was very resilient. She must be a budding firefighter or nurse.”

The eldest daughter of the family involved in the crash had blood in her mouth, “probably due to a bitten lip”, he added.

Mr Bainbridge, a training and development instructor for the fire service in Droitwich, explained he was experienced at dealing with similar incidents, having been a watch manager in Redditch and Bromsgrove.

“I’m used to dealing with emergencies and being in charge so this was nothing new to me,” he added.

A fire crew from Stourport, an ambulance service rapid response vehicle and police also attended the scene, with the road closed until about 8pm.

The father of the family was uninjured and his wife is currently being treated at Worcestershire Royal Hospital...