DRIVER ESCAPES HORROR CRASH
ADRIVER has opened up on his lucky escape after his vehicle flipped in a horror crash on a busy road. Richard Smith’s vehicle ended up across the central reservation during morning rush hour – and he says the incident has made him fearful to get back behind the wheel of a car.
The landscape gardener from Govilon near Abergavenny was in his black Ford Ranger on his usual morning commute on the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road on Tuesday when the trailer on his vehicle collided with a white Ford Transit.
Mr Smith said his vehicle did a “full 360 degrees turn” before ending at the central reservation between the Hardwick Gyratory and Llanfoist Interchange, while he said the other vehicle “must have spun three times before ending up 20m further up the road”.
“The trailer flipped and that then flipped the van, which went right over onto its roof,” Richard said.
“I couldn’t believe it, I was just in pure shock from what I remember – but it all happened so quickly.”
At the time, due to the fact he was towing a trailer, Richard said he was driving at 45mph on the 70mph road.
He said it “doesn’t bear thinking about” what the outcome would have been had he been driving much faster.
Recalling how he felt while upside down in the vehicle, he said: “I could feel immediately that something wasn’t right [when the car stopped moving]. I was fully conscious.
“I knew my head had scraped across the tarmac as it was outside of the smashed window.
“The worst of my wounds is the skin damage on the back of my head and on my shoulder from where the tarmac has scraped against my skin.
“When the van rolled the window smashed and where I was thrown all ways, before ending up with my head out the window, touching the road.
“In shock I got out of the vehicle quickly and just sat at the side of the road. Loads of people were rushing towards me.”
Richard has thanked other motorists who stopped to look after both drivers before emergency services arrived.
Emergency services and recovery vehicles arrived at the scene minutes after the incident at around 8.20am, and Richard was taken to hospital on a spinal board.
Remarkably, both drivers have managed to escape with only minor injuries, but Richard – who is now back at home with his four children – said the incident has made him “very shaky”.
“We were clearly both very lucky, it could have been fatal,” he said.
“The van has been written off, which is really difficult because the van is my work vehicle and my living. I’ve now got to wait for insurers to replace the vehicle which could take weeks, so I have to take time away from work.
“But I do feel really lucky. I’ve travelled that road on many occasions and I would usually be in the car with my daughter at that time of the day, taking her to nursery.
“I don’t like to think about it, but she could well have been in the car with me if it was on another day.
“It’s all put the jeepers up on me a bit. I have been very shaky.”
A spokesman for Gwent Police said: “We received a report of a road traffic collision, involving two vans, on the A465 between the Hardwick Gyratory and Llanfoist Interchange at around 8.20am on Tuesday, July 20.
“Officers attended, along with paramedics from the Welsh Ambulance Service, to assist with traffic management as one section of the road was closed.
“No injuries were reported, although one of the van drivers was taken to hospital as a precaution.
“Inquiries are ongoing and anyone who may be able to assist our investigation with information, or has CCTV or dashcam footage, is asked to call Gwent Police on 101 quoting log reference 2100255037. You can also contact us via social media on Facebook or Twitter, or you can report any information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”