"Walls can be replaced but peoples' lives can't" - Marske family's home hit by driver for the seventh time
Video report by Julia Breen
A Marske family is calling for safety barriers at their Coast Road home - after a car smashed into their garden wall for a seventh time.A driver lost control of their vehicle, mounting the pavement and hitting Eric and Janice Boon's property late on Saturday night.
They crashed with such force, they wrote off the car - along with the couple's brick wall - before fleeing the scene around 11.40pm.
The shaken family says protective barriers are needed at the property before someone is killed. The couple have even offered to pay for them.The Boon family home is on a blind corner opposite Outwood Academy Bydales. The house is passed by hundreds of motorists every day.
Saturday's incident is the latest in a string of dangerous crashes over the past 16 years.The couple, who are in their seventies, say they have asked Redcar and Cleveland Council to install safety barriers.
Eric he claims the council told him to remove the rocks or face court - because they were too dangerous.Redcar and Cleveland Council have not yet responded to Eric's claims.The latest smash, Eric said, was an "awful shock".
"I'd got out of bed because I wasn't feeling 100%"There was a big bang - I thought 'oh my God'. My wife was half asleep but she realised straightaway what had happened. They come so fast down the Coast Road. It's supposed to be 30mph but they never do that."
Eric added, "They hit a different part of the wall this time, further along. Every time it happens we get onto the council."Eric said the last crash was 18 months ago and it cost significant sums to repair."It's so expensive, this time it will cost even more because there's more damage."I spent £2,000 on rocks, put them in front of the wall a couple of years ago. I thought 'at least we'll be safe'. The council told me to take them away and when I said no, they saidthey would take us to court."They said it's too dangerous. It's just crazy."
Eric and Janice's daughter Stephie said, "There have always been problems with drink drivers on a night. My parents were really shaken up. A lot of people tend to walk down there, people use the path to go down to the beach."A few were out having a night-time stroll at the time, if they'd been any earlier they would have been wiped out. The car didn't even brake, there were no skid marks or anything.
The speed limit changed from 60mph to 40mph on the main stretch in July 2007 and 14 road traffic accidents have since been officially recorded.Street lights were installed on the route in 2008 but provoked a furious reaction, with several residents branding them an unnecessary eyesore.The backlash forced the council to remove the lights.At Mr Hibbins' inquest PC Andy Lawson, of Cleveland Police, suggested that Redcar and Cleveland Council reviewed the street lighting in the area. But a representative from the local authority told the court that street lighting on the rural road was not "necessary".
Governance Director Steven Newton said that the number of accidents on the road did not meet the threshold for further action.Cleveland Police says it has received reports of a black VW Golf which caused "significant damage" at the property late on Saturday night."The occupants of the car did not stay at the scene," a force spokeswoman said, "Enquiries are ongoing."