Motorcycle accident hotspot

Motorcycle accidents on the A10

A FIRE chief has pleaded with motorists to drive more carefully after a spate of serious crashes.

Sean Comerford, station commander in Royston, said in December alone his crews had been called to five smashes which had left people trapped.

This compared to 11 similar incidents in the previous five months.

Mr Comerford picked out several junctions on the A505 and the Melbourn turn on the A10 as particular danger spots and put on a roof-cutting demonstration to show the difficult job firefighters faced at a crash scene.

He said: "For a small area, this is quite a lot of accidents, and that's not including crashes over the border in Cambridgeshire. If we can influence one person and make them drive more safely, we could maybe save three or four lives. One accident can cause a lot of heartbreak."

Mr Comerford said his message was particularly aimed at young male drivers, with speed and inexperience the most common causes of accidents.

After being extra cautious in the snow, he said drivers would now be reverting to their normal habits and he warned that the rural roads around Royston required particular care.

He said: "Because we have dual carriageways and country roads we tend to have high-speed impacts with lots of bits of cars flying everywhere.

"It's about driving to the condition of the road - it might be clear, but there could be mud on the road round the corner, or on a narrow country lane there might be a car or a motorcycle coming towards you."

Hertfordshire police and Hertfordshire County Council are also urging motorists to stick to the speed limit, obey drink-driving laws and to wear a seatbelt.

Mr Comerford said serious accidents took their toll on his crews. He added: "Where there is trauma involved it will affect them psychologically, especially if it turns out it could have been prevented, or where children are involved."

Source - Cambridge News