Update: Witnesses sought after Barrow woman is flown to hospital with spinal injuries following Burneside crash

10:20pm Tuesday 13th November 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Steven Bell, Senior Reporter

The crash scene at Hollins Lane, near Kendal, off the A591 The crash scene at Hollins Lane, near Kendal, off the A591

WITNESSES to a road crash near Burneside in which a woman received suspected spinal injuries have tonight been urged to contact police.

The female driver, originally believed to be aged 20 but later confirmed as a 19-year-old from Barrow, was driving a green Vauxhall Corsa when it was in collision with a Mercedes lorry on Hollins Lane, off the A591.

Emergency services were called to the scene at 12.20pm today and firefighters from Kendal had to use specialist cutting equipment to free the teenager.

The Great North Air Ambulance's Pride of Cumbria helicopter flew her to the Royal Preston Hospital.

Police closed the road for nearly five hours while investigators examined the scene and the vehicles were recovered.

The driver of the lorry - confirmed by police as a 51-year-old man from Manchester - received minor injuries.

Anybody who saw the collision is asked to contact PC Tom Davis at Kendal Roads Policing Unit on the non-emergency number, 101.

 

Comments(18)

davidearnshaw says...
2:30pm Tue 13 Nov 12

Really not surprised -- an incident waiting to happen ---- this road is just NOT suitable for HGVs,--- some of which are so very long and take up virtually the whole width of the road in places, and have great difficulty negotiating bends, especially if other traffic is on the road in opposite direction ---- long overdue that an HGV ban is put in place, or the road is seriously widened and speed limited, with good warning signs / traffic management -- and sooner rather than later; accepted for some, it will mean a detour through Kendal for HGVs needing to access either Burneside or North Kendal ---- but commonsense must prevail; HGV owners and destination management to where these HGVs are travelling should be asked to put a ban on the vehicles using any route other than a main road to access Burneside and North Kendal.

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tictoc1 says...
3:13pm Tue 13 Nov 12

I really hope all involved are ok! I do agree with the above comment, that road is unfit for large vehicles and HGV's. I think it's very unproffesional of the WG to publish this picture as someone has been seriously injured, it shows which companies vehicle has been involved and people could jump to the wrong conclusions!

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blade stall says...
6:29pm Tue 13 Nov 12

Lets not over react. You are right this road is not suitable for hgvs. I recently had a long chat with the operations manager at croppers and suggested that the loaded lorries using the lane should have an escort vehicle ahead of them. What little this would cost would be offset by less wear and tear on the lorries and goodwill generated to the motorists. This would solve the problem and eliminate the need for all other measures... but yeah this is definitely not a route for large HGVs.

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blade stall says...
6:37pm Tue 13 Nov 12

The top and bottom of it is kendal needs a northern link road.... you cant ban hgvs they are the life blood of the county and only doing a job. It amazes me more companies dont escort more... we have been doing it for abnormal loads safely for a generation now.

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snowploughexpert says...
12:48am Wed 14 Nov 12

Well many of my girl freinds have crashed as they are bloody useless and dont understand how a road works and what actions are safe to take. by law young drivers should be made to drive 1.0l cars with a top speed of 60mph. ive been in many car with different young drivers and today's drivers don't think ahead they react so slow to road and vehicle changes. to me in this picture the HGV is where is should be but what on earth has the ladys car got there, to fast and slipped on some leaves? many possibilities.

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Neil Mac says...
2:33pm Wed 14 Nov 12

Thank god we didnt rely on you lot to investigate this accident.

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EMTkendal says...
3:44pm Wed 14 Nov 12

I hope that the girl is ok and also the lorry driver, although he only suffered minor injuries he will probably be in shock. It is a wonder though that there are not more accidents on this road. It is not necessarily the HGV's either that are the problem. Living in Burneside and using Hollins Lane daily to get to & from work I am constantly having to swerve to miss cars that are coming in the opposite direction that are usually travelling too fast and on the wrong side of the road, I have also seen cars in front of me taking action to avoid a collision. Too many people use this road as a rat run to avoid the town centre. Cars also travel too fast on the road between the school & the level crossing where there is no footpath. Something needs to be done to make this road safe.

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life cycle too says...
6:42pm Wed 14 Nov 12

I hope the victim makes a full recovery - she has her whole life ahead of her at 19!

I disagree about HGVs not using this route - the alternative route from Kendal to Burneside would place HGVs in a more built up area, with narrow roads between Bushers Walk and the lights, and bends and rises that would be more dangerous.

This collision has happened on a straight stretch of the lane, and relatively level too, so I suspect there will be a different cause than we might suspect..

I'm puzzled by the picture which shows that the lorry is not as big as some, and not straddling both sides of the lane as they do on some bends.

Finally I agree about the Gazette picture being wrong - it shows a blue vehicle not a green one. You cannot have confidence in any of the published details when they make so basic an error.

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Lakeuk says...
8:08pm Wed 14 Nov 12

Surprising as it sounds the car is correctly described as green, that's the colour that Vauxhall describes for that type of paint

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boris plasticmac says...
9:28am Thu 15 Nov 12

The Northern link has been mooted for over 30 years and nothing has happened. The absence of this road, which should have been done at least 20 years ago has stunted the development of North Kendal and pushed unsuitable types and volumes of traffic on to unsuitable roads.
Doesn't really matter if the car is green or blue, the accident shouldn't have occured.

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life cycle too says...
9:35am Thu 15 Nov 12

Lakeuk wrote:
Surprising as it sounds the car is correctly described as green, that's the colour that Vauxhall describes for that type of paint
I've taken a look on Vauxhall's site - and if you scroll through the paint options, there is Lime Green, or Oriental Blue - or Waterworld - and the blue option is closest by a mile!

And the picture definitely shows a blue car.
From the looks of the damage, the safety features seem to have saved this drivers life - air bag deployed, bonnet crumpled etc. - but the impact has been with the near side of the lorry!

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Samlock says...
12:49pm Thu 15 Nov 12

blade stall wrote:
Lets not over react. You are right this road is not suitable for hgvs. I recently had a long chat with the operations manager at croppers and suggested that the loaded lorries using the lane should have an escort vehicle ahead of them. What little this would cost would be offset by less wear and tear on the lorries and goodwill generated to the motorists. This would solve the problem and eliminate the need for all other measures... but yeah this is definitely not a route for large HGVs.
Are you a complete muppet all of the time, or just when you're here? Do you know just how many vehicles enter and exit the Croppers mill each day? Just how much time it would take to "escort" each lorry/wagon/van up and down each road to Burneside? "what little this would cost"... Sure, the company has just got rid of just under 40 employees and appointed a new CEO to help save money, so lets waste some by throwing escort vehicles out and about! How do you know this lorry was Croppers-related anyway? Dumbass...

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Lakeuk says...
1:04pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Colour matches what they refer to as mint green

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maddisonCran says...
7:14pm Thu 15 Nov 12

snowploughexpert wrote:
Well many of my girl freinds have crashed as they are bloody useless and dont understand how a road works and what actions are safe to take. by law young drivers should be made to drive 1.0l cars with a top speed of 60mph. ive been in many car with different young drivers and today's drivers don't think ahead they react so slow to road and vehicle changes. to me in this picture the HGV is where is should be but what on earth has the ladys car got there, to fast and slipped on some leaves? many possibilities.
I totally disagree! How can you just jump to such a conclusion! Im a 20year old girl who drives a 1:2 corsa. To pass our test and to be allowed on the roads our generation has had to do more. Theory test and driving test are alot harder. We have to learn more and know more about 'how roads work'. If it were a 30, 40, 70 year old you would just come up with another reason to whine! Im a perfecly able driver, better than some of my friens who are in their 30s. So try not to sterio type such people please!!

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tangles1 says...
8:06pm Thu 15 Nov 12

maddisonCran wrote:
snowploughexpert wrote:
Well many of my girl freinds have crashed as they are bloody useless and dont understand how a road works and what actions are safe to take. by law young drivers should be made to drive 1.0l cars with a top speed of 60mph. ive been in many car with different young drivers and today's drivers don't think ahead they react so slow to road and vehicle changes. to me in this picture the HGV is where is should be but what on earth has the ladys car got there, to fast and slipped on some leaves? many possibilities.
I totally disagree! How can you just jump to such a conclusion! Im a 20year old girl who drives a 1:2 corsa. To pass our test and to be allowed on the roads our generation has had to do more. Theory test and driving test are alot harder. We have to learn more and know more about 'how roads work'. If it were a 30, 40, 70 year old you would just come up with another reason to whine! Im a perfecly able driver, better than some of my friens who are in their 30s. So try not to sterio type such people please!!
yes i agree, i'm 22 female and i drive for a living. I have never had a accent because i look at the road and judge it to what i can see - if i can't see slow down because you might have a old man that has no idea how to drive because they've been driving for years. i would like to see you do a modern day test.

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furthersouth says...
10:34pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Guilty! I use this road as a cut through via Burneside to get into Kendal, I work just off the A6 near to the Old Showground. There is absolutely no way I'm driving through the ridiculous system in Kendal town centre. I drive cautiously through Burneside, paying particular attention around the school area, often stopping to let parents and children cross safely. Some folk race through here like a rally circuit, often dodging HGVs. It's quite amusing somethimes when two HGVs meet as there is nowhere to go. The home owners must get so frustrated. Most but not all turn into Croppers, but some travel all the way through to the A6 missing out town. Maybe should be restricted to HGVs going to Croppers and not a short cut.

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blade stall says...
11:13pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Samlock, many thanks for that well informed and helpful response. To answer some of your points. At what stage did i suggest the vehicle was croppers related?? The vehicle livery is indeed a give away. And why do you suggest escorting hgvs is expensive?? Rather than making a guy redundant get him a van that also doubles as a factory van, and away you go. It gives the lorries a clear run through the obstacles and as a haulage operator i will state now that the wear and tear saved on the lorries will pay for the service in spades. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to work that out. And may i politely ask why a perfectly well reasoned argument prompted you to call me a muppet?? I have been operating hgvs in this area since 1996 and i would not let a lorry go down hollins unaccompanied. As a previous contributor said we urgently need a link road.

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sonorbloke says...
12:58pm Fri 16 Nov 12

It's notable that the lorry appears to be almost entirely on the correct side of the road and the car that hit it is completely on the wrong side of the road, and the damage is consistent with the car running head on into the lorry at reasonably low speed as the lorry is not badly damaged. The inference from which is that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road for some reason.

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