Death crash sparks road-safety talks

A CONCERNED group of Saddleworth councillors say they are in talks with the police in a bid to cut the number of accidents on the borough’s twisting country roads.

Alarmed by the double fatal motorcycle crash in Denshaw, councillors Mike Buckley, Derek Heffernan and Alan Roughley have spoken out to try and increase safety.

Councillor Roughley said: “What has been put in place so far has not been able to change the culture or give the results hoped on the local roads.

“There is more and more powerful traffic on the roads, first made in the 18th and early 19th century, but we have to work with what we have got.

“We need to do something, we hope that suggestions and talks with the police can be researched and applied.”

They were spurred to make the announcement following the death of two bikers, including 17-year-old Joseph Smith, on the A6052 Delph Road on August 21.

They argue that the rise in the number of bikes and cars coming into the district on summer evenings could be a contributing factor to the number of road accidents.

Insp Chris Gloster, of the Traffic Network Section, said: “We have put in plans to monitor average speed on these roads and measure the extent of the problem.

“Once we have the results we will liaise with the Greater Manchester Casualty Reduction Partnership to decide what tactics can be used to enforce the speed limit.”

The councillors now want to develop a relationship with the police to look at every possible way of reducing the risk of accidents and increase road safety — highlighting the dangerous speed and manner in which some locals drive.

A nearby four kilometre section of the A627 Ripponden Road between Sholver and Denshaw was labelled one of the UK’s high risk roads in a report in June this year.

The Road-Safety Foundation (RSF) reported that the accident blackspot claimed four lives last year, with the total number of accidents doubling since 2005.