Kentish Express Ashford & District
Winter safety warning from crash motorcyclist
‘Unless people are more careful, the next person might not be so lucky’
“Wipe your windows this winter.”
Those are the words of warning to drivers from an Ashford motorcyclist who said he is lucky to be alive after a recent smash.
Matt Lacey, 32, a recruitment consultant from Singleton, was on his motorbike on the way to work when he collided with a car at the bottom of Singleton Hill.
The married father-of-one says he was hit by the car at around 6.30am on Wednesday last week at the junction with Tithe Barn Lane.
He was taken to the William Harvey Hospital with leg injuries but released later that day.
He said: “A woman was driving down Singleton Hill, she stopped at the bottom but a bus flashed her out to go because it was turning into the junction.
“But her windows were completely steamed up so she didn’t see me when she just pulled out, and that’s when we collided.
“My bike is completely written off and I’m badly bruised all over.
“I can’t really walk, there’s a bit of nerve damage, and I’ve got a chipped tooth.”
Mr Lacey said he now wants to warn drivers, especially in winter, not to drive off with their windows steamed up.
He added: “She hadn’t cleared her windows, so when the bus flashed its lights for her to go, she just went without look- ing or without knowing what was there. And thanks to that I haven’t been able to go to work, my bike is a complete write off and I’m on crutches.
“My wife and son are a bit worried about me getting back on the bike and I’ve not really slept properly since the accident.
“But I know it could have been much, much worse and I’m very lucky to have got away with it. I can walk, I’m alive, I’m very lucky. But unless people are more careful, the next person might not be so lucky.”
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