Couple’s anger over garden crash hotspot
A COUPLE have expressed their anger at drivers and council workers for not doing enough to protect their home in a Derbyshire town after cars repeatedly crashed into their garden.
Ian and Angela White, 62 and 61, have lived in Harvester Close, Ripely, since 2000 and witnessed multiple accidents on Hartshay Hill, which their house backs on to.
They claim speed and poor road layouts are to blame for the road accidents in the area.
Ian, a motor vehicle technician, said: “One accident in 2002, a vehicle came off the road crashed through our fence, crossed the garden, ripped up the decking and entered our property, demolishing French doors and badly damaging the brick and ruining furniture, carpets and curtains, leaving our property uninhabitable for months.
“Another time I sat in a badlydamaged car in the early hours of the morning comforting a seriously injured driver until, sadly, he died, something I hope I never have to do and see again. We are fearful sitting in our lounge of another vehicle strike and are startled by any unexpected road noise.
“We have not been able to use our garden over summer due to the mess, and partly out of fright.”
The couple have had to replace their front windows and fence panels three times. Most recently, a crashed car broke their fence and damaged plants and shrubs in their front garden.
Although their neighbours have not been affected in the same way, they also believe some traffic calming measures are needed.
Ian and Angela have noticed an increase in the number of lorries and HGVs passing near their house, and fear one may crash into their house. Ian said: “There also appears to be an increase in HGVs cutting through Ripley from the A38 and on to the storage facility.
“The HGVs appear to start around 5.30am and carry on until late evening and also on Sundays. God help us if one of them crashes into our house or garden.
“They may be professional drivers but nothing is immune from a mechanical failure. We have lots of lorries passing to the storage facilities but I don’t see any reason for vehicles of that size to be going into the centre of Ripley.”
Ian said the noise and fear of another accident has caused his wife to be placed on medication to cope with her nerves. The couple are calling on the council to improve road safety near their house.
He said: “After passing on our concerns to Derbyshire County Council, we asked if it would be possible to erect a crash barrier and to implement some sort of traffic calming so our property could be protected.
“After contacting them for an update we were told the road would be monitored and it was suggested that a new road surface would be considered and the installation of more wooden warning posts, neither of these would slow the traffic or protect us.
“If we leave the house we dread coming home in case there has been another accident. All we ask is a crash barrier to be installed and some sort of traffic calming to protect my property from damage and to save my family from being killed.”
A council spokesperson said: “We’re aware of the incident on Hartshay Hill and have spoken to the family about their concerns.
“We take road safety very seriously and when considering requests for extra safety measures a number of things are taken into account. These include the layout of the road, the number of accidents, the speed limit and actual traffic speeds along the route.
“There has been one reported injury collision on this road in the past three years, which means traffic calming measures wouldn’t be considered.
“We carried out an investigation into the road surface and will continue to monitor it. If residents believe motorists are speeding, they should contact police.”