This has to STOP
WORRIED RESIDENTS CALL FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENTS
REDCAR residents are coming together to rally for road improvements following a spate of crashes.
Both long-time and new residents along Hawthorn Road in Redcar are teaming up following a recent twovehicle collision that saw a car flip on to its side and land “less than half a metre” from a woman’s window, sending two patients to the James Cook University Hospital.
Graham Heslehurst said it’s only a “matter of time” before something more serious happens on the busy road, claiming he has seen five crashes 14 months since moving in.
The dad-of-two says the “distressing” collision on Saturday was eyeopening and is urging the council to take extra preventative measures.
Redcar and Cleveland Council has since confirmed it plans to have the lining on the road surface refreshed as soon as possible and intends to carry out a speed data records check.
The council believes the incidents “seem mainly to have happened as a result of drivers not adhering to the road lay-out.”
Graham, 39, said: “We’ve got together as residents and we are asking the council to come and improve that junction.
“It was only two months ago that the lamp-posts got crashed into there. It’s only a couple of months previous to that, that someone had an accident that only just missed that lady’s lawn.
“Altogether, the lady on the road has seen 20 different accidents in 15 years. Since I’ve been here, we’ve been moved in 14 months, and I’ve seen five, with countless, numerous misses.
“It has been changed recently but it just isn’t working. For whatever reason, people that are driving down Hawthorn do not stop, and they just go out over the crossroads.
“It happens weekly, but normally it doesn’t come to anything. It just so happens that every now and again a car is coming the other way and they crash into each other.”
The project manager suggested adding more stop signs or even sand carpets, as “it is only a matter of time before someone walks past or is sat in the garden and a car lands on them”.
Saturday’s ordeal saw both drivers taken to hospital. Graham said his wife Tracie, who is a healthcare assistant, went out to help those involved in the crash.
He added: “It’s the same incident every time. That lady’s wall has only been there for five years, and it’s getting replaced again.
“It’s affecting the residents, and [we] are looking to get some improvements done. There’s a couple of the people a few doors down [that] have children who play out on bikes on that area and use it to walk to the park and they’ve obviously got concerns as well.”
Graham said there are six families who agreed to go to the council, with other people on the road also showing interest. He said the woman whose wall was knocked down remained “shaken” the next day.
He said: “She was sitting in the room and the car was less than half a metre from her window. Last time, it was centimetres off the wall.
“This time it opened our eyes – it was quite a distressing scene..”
A spokesperson for Redcar and
Cleveland Council said: “Our engineers have been to the site. At the junction, there are clear ‘Give way’ signs on hi-vis backing and we plan to have the lining on the road surface refreshed as soon as we can.
“We also intend to have a SDR (speed data records) check carried out, although based on past records, the site in question is not a ‘fast road’ because of how narrow it is.
“The instances which have occurred seem mainly to have happened as a result of drivers not adhering to the road layout.”
A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: “Police were called to Hawthorn Road in Redcar just after 5.40pm on Saturday, to a report of a two-vehicle collision.
“A BMW had left the road and gone into a garden, ending up on its side. The male driver was believed to have suffered head injuries.
“The male driver from the other vehicle, a Vauxhall Corsa, had possibly broken his collar bone and both drivers were taken by ambulance to James Cook University Hospital. Both vehicles were recovered from the scene. Enquiries into the circumstances of the collision are ongoing.”