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Pair’s lucky escape as car plunges 40ft
Date published: 09 November 2009
Worried residents fear the return of moorland crashes on one of Saddleworth’s most notorious roads.
Two people had a miraculous escape after their car careered off the A635 Holmfirth to Greenfield road and plunged 40ft down an embankment.
A passing motorist alerted emergency services after spotting a Renault Clio had gone over the side of the road and down the steep slope in atrocious weather conditions shortly before 2pm on Friday.
An ambulance, backed by a 12-strong team from Oldham Mountain Rescue, raced to the scene and a woman driver, who was accompanied by a passenger, was taken to hospital. The pair escaped with minor injuries.
One local resident, who did not want to be named, said: “We continue to be amazed that despite the number of accidents no authority seems to think the road merits any preventative measures.
“The Snake Pass, for example, is covered with warning signs. With bad weather kicking in I just hope we are not in for a spate of accidents at this spot.”
Mick Nield, leader of Oldham Mountain Rescue Team, praised colleagues in the ambulance service for their rapid response to the accident.
He said: “The weather was terrible — winds, heavy rain and mist. Ambulance teams are under tremendous pressure but they did an invaluable job.”
It was the mountain rescue team’s 73rd turn out of the year — topping the 44 total for the whole of last year.
The news comes as the council announced plans to install 12 vehicle-activated signs at five potentially hazardous sites, at a cost of £126,000.
Two new signs will be placed on the A635 and two on the notorious A62 Oldham to Huddersfield road. Two signs will be placed on each of the A663 Milnrow Road, Shaw; A6052 Denshaw Road, Delph; and the B6195 Chadderton Hall Road, Chadderton.
Councillor Brian Lord said: “This scheme is designed to tackle problems at specific sites where conventional signing has not been effective.
“Vehicle activated signs have a very clear objective to make drivers aware of the speed they are travelling and to take action to reduce it.”
There are already two signs on each of the B6194 Abbey Hills Road and the B6194 Shaw Road, Derker, one on the A627 Ashton Road, Hathershaw, and the A669 Middleton Road, Chadderton.
The council has agreed an allocation of £80,000 in funding with a further £30,000 available from the Local Transport Plan to target sites that could see significant casualty reductions.
Saddleworth and Lees District Partnership has also agreed to contribute an additional £16,000 in their area.
Comments
again large amounts of money being wasted slowing roads down and putting stupid activated signs.
if the roads where up to standard then cars wouldnt be skidding off the roads.
some of the surfaces on the roads mentioned are over 10 years old!
Road Rocket you will agree then that oldhams roads are disgraceful and a danger to the people who use them.
especially by bike. yet instead of maintaining them they just keep lowering the speed and putting up stupid flashing signs and cameras.
soon we'll all have 20 limits and speed humps everywhere.
yet the accidents will still happen.
wonder what speed they were doing ?? legal of course
Fedupoldhamer: I have driven in many areas and not found the roads to be as bad as what you say. The road in question (A635) has an excellent surface with a speed limit of 60mph which is about right. In general, there are many reasons why cars skid besides poor road surfacing, including going too fast, bad driving technique on bends, insufficient tread on tyres etc. Let's have some driver responsibility for once instead of always blaming somebody else.
ok so some responsibility lies with the driver and their actions be it in or on the vehicle. but ombc always seem to blame the driver and its never their fault!
but how come in almost every direction out of oldham you can always tell that you've left oldham and entered another borough without seeing any information signs. the improved road conditions are the obvious sign.
I have driven this road in both directions hundreds of times over the years. I have never had an accident or anything near an accident. Why? Because I drive to suit the weather conditions, and the road conditions, by which I mean the undulating nature of the road, and the twisting bends approaching Greenfield.These are adequately signed with chevron boards.Given the state of some of the atrocious driving on "ordinary" roads, I think driver error plays a large part in these moorland accidents!
When will the drivers accept some responsibility instead of blaming other things.I know this road well and have never had any problems if you drive sensibly.
Have Your Say
The 'local resident' should check the facts. Despite warnings and the 50mph speed limit, the Snake Pass still has its fair share of accidents, including fatals. How about blaming the drivers instead of the roads for once! (By the way, my signature name is from the old BSA Road Rocket motorcycle - not the manner in which I drive).
By Road Rocket @ 09/11/2009 14:18:31