The 'drag strip' road that's claimed 20 write-offs in a year
A road in North Staffordshire has claimed 20 write-offs in a year, according to a resident living nearby, who has photographed many of the crashes along the stretch.
The 70-year-old who lives in Hanchurch, and wishes to remain anonymous said the A519 is effectively a "drag strip", and is calling on highway bosses to lower the speed limit on the road.
He says he has seen numerous crashes involving cars and lorries resulting in them being written off in the last year alone, on the Newcastle Road, between Junction 15 of the M6 and Knowl Wall. Some crashes have also injured animals too.
He says accidents on the stretch had claimed the lives of two people since he moved into his home 30 years ago.Since 1995, when a motorist was killed in a side-on collision, the resident has been campaigning for a reduced speed limit.The resident said: “The council is refusing to engage. They will not speak to me. I’ve filled in a form electronically on their website. They send a standard template answer: ‘We have no plans to make any changes to the road in that area.’.
“I’m fit for bursting about this. Something needs to be done now.
"They even suggested painting 30pmh on my dustbin, for Christ’s sake. You or someone you know could be killed.”The latest incident over the weekend saw a stag hit by a car.
The resident said the vehicle that hit it crashed further up the road and nobody was hurt.
After the incident, the resident took matters into his own hands and added a sign saying ‘Too fast!’ before the bend where the crash happened. It was thrown into the ditch a few days later.He said: “I’ve got photos of cars that have crashed. I’ve picked up more dead animals than I care to count. I’m so frustrated, I’m fit to burst.“It’s mayhem with cars coming off the corner. Most just swerve and go down the grass verge. We’ve witnessed people who want to turn right down Drayton Road, another car behind can’t stop and they swerve round the right-hand side and go into the ditch."Visitors, residents and farmers in Hanchurch take their lives into their own hands when they try to join or exit the A519. We’ve not had one representative from the highway department.
"Last time I spoke to highways he said not enough people had been killed to warrant reducing the speed limit. I want to find out who is making these decisions about people who could be killed.”Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, David Williams, said: “Safety on our roads is an absolute priority to us and we regularly review speed limits, taking into account any incident data. However we expect drivers to be responsible and keep to speed limits.“Driving to excessive speeds endangers other road users and themselves.
"We’d urge people to contact the police if they see anyone driving dangerously. Anyone with concerns should contact their local county councillor or our highways team.”
A spokesperson from Staffordshire Police said: "We are committed to proactively policing our roads and carrying out enforcement and education efforts to reduce the number of injuries and fatal collisions across Staffordshire."We recently launched our #SaferSummerRoads on Monday (24 July) to further prevent speeding and increasing awareness around the dangers of speeding."It comes after a number of fatal road collisions in Staffordshire recently, which have increased by 39 per cent when compared to the pre-Covid-19 baseline (2019-2020).
"There were seven fatal collisions involving motorcycles in the last 12 months (June 22 to May 23), and three of these took place in the month of May alone."