Car crash spate on A30 prompts Haselbury Plucknett Parish Council action
A spate of bad accidents on a notorious accident black spot just outside Haselbury Plucknett has prompted the parish council to put up its own warning signs.
The council says there is at least one accident every month on the stretch of A30 which bends on its way towards East Chinnock. But it says in the past 10 days there have been five crashes.
The authority is appealing to residents and all A30 users to try and piece together the recent and not so recent incident history of the bend.
Councillor Mark Kheating said: "The council has, for many years been concerned about the speed of traffic on the main A30 road through our parish.
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"There are a number of junctions and bends on this two mile stretch that are a cause for concern. Following a fatal accident in Autumn 2008 our concerns on this corner were heightened.
"Early February this year has been one of the worst times we can remember. There have been 5 accidents in the last ten days, one of which was very serious."
The parish council fears that because not every crash is reported, Somerset County Council's Highways Department may not have an accurate figure of how many there actually are.
The parish council hopes that highlighting how many crashes occur might prompt the county to take action.
Councillor Neil Baker said: "On contacting the highways department it became clear that there was an apparent disconnection in the numbers of accidents on this stretch of road and the number actually reported.
"Basically the only accidents that are actually collated are accidents that result in personal injury, so unsurprisingly the bend does not have a huge accident record with the local highways department or emergency services.
"We are asking road users to e-mail in details of any incidents that have happened to you or anyone you know to become part of a catalogue.
"We hope to make this road safer. By working with our local authority and residents we hope to significantly reduce the number of accidents."
The parish council has suggested permanent signs to suggest a safer speed for the corner, renewing the road markings and a temporary speed recorder as ways of preventing further collisions.
The campaign is backed by West Coker resident, Alice Edwards, 28 who rides horses locally and was first on the scene at two of the recent crashes.
She said: "In the first one, the guy got out and was pretty much okay but the second one a few days later was worse.
"The guy was conscious but was in a panic, the airbags had gone off and he had back and neck injuries with blurred vision. I tried to keep him calm until the emergency services arrived.
"The corner is not that nasty or sharp but people just try to go around it too fast."
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