Accident shows danger of junction

2:00pm Friday 18th January 2013 in News By Alex Winter

Accident shows danger of junction Accident shows danger of junction

A FOUR-vehicle crash in West Moors has sparked fears that someone could be killed.

A woman needed to be cut out of her car by fire crews after the collision, which happened at the mini roundabout at the junction of Pinehurst Road with Station Road, on Wednesday morning.

Brian Jay, whose home overlooks the scene of the crash, said he has been fighting to have the road made safer for more than a year, and had even emailed the council about the mini roundabout just moments before the crash.

Although the exact circumstances of this crash are not known, Mr Jay said: “That roundabout is dangerous.

“People treat the road as if it was a through road. Forty per cent of cars go on the wrong side of the circle. If something isn’t done, there will be a very serious accident, much like this one.”

Dorset Fire and Rescue crews from Ferndown, and a crew from Springbourne who were in the area at the time of the collision, received an emergency call about the crash just after 11am.

Firefighters forced the door of one car to allow paramedics to treat the female casualty, who was not seriously injured in the incident.

Mr Jay said: “The problem used to be a lack of signage, but that’s been improved recently.

“The trouble is that the road travelling towards Ferndown used to be straight, with a T-junction at Pinehurst Road. They put in a mini roundabout in 2007, but if you’re travelling the road and you don’t know it well, you’d think it was a straight road.”

Mr Jay said the road needs a kerb splitter island to alleviate the traffic problems.

“It’s a disaster waiting to happen, and something needs to be done as soon as possible,” he said.

Comments(16)

speedy231278 says...
2:07pm Fri 18 Jan 13

Roundabouts do not cause accidents. Only drivers can do that.

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rayc says...
2:15pm Fri 18 Jan 13

speedy231278 wrote:
Roundabouts do not cause accidents. Only drivers can do that.
I guess those engineering works, which are part of the 3E's of casualty reduction, are a waste of time and money then.

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saynomore says...
3:21pm Fri 18 Jan 13

Coming from Pinehurst road and turning left drivers have to swing out so far to clear the oversized pavement area that they are sometimes heading for the oncoming vehicles most noticable with larger vehicles having to swing out ,and people coming from West moors village to go straight on rarely give way to vehicles turning right into Pinehurst road as the highway code dictates you must give way to vehicles emerging from your right. The juction is a hazzard and needs some thought as to making it more usable.

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P Barker says...
3:42pm Fri 18 Jan 13

No one "needed" to be cut free from their car. Its the health & safety obsession with minor collison, when somewhere says their neck hurts- out come the fire brigade & cuts the roof off the car. Until that point it was minor damage, now a write off.

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Jetwasher says...
4:18pm Fri 18 Jan 13

P Barker wrote:
No one "needed" to be cut free from their car. Its the health & safety obsession with minor collison, when somewhere says their neck hurts- out come the fire brigade & cuts the roof off the car. Until that point it was minor damage, now a write off.
I agree, just looks like a little nudge the dodgems at the fair have seen worst crashes than this.

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moorsman70 says...
6:38pm Fri 18 Jan 13

all locals know that cars coming from the 3 legged cross direction go the wrong side of the roundabout or approach it way too fast and dont give way this has happened to me dozens of times and several of those times a volley of abuse aimed at me-then these brave people drive off whilst i would be happy to "chat" with them about not driving properly

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Dexterwest says...
6:45pm Fri 18 Jan 13

I'm always seeing cars on the wrong side of that roundabout. It's a poor design not helped by bad driving habits.

Mini roundabouts are dangerous, the three cross mini roundabouts are just as bad with plenty of near misses.

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The Timelord says...
7:59pm Fri 18 Jan 13

Cheap solution to a problem that didn't previously exist.
perhaps traffic lights would help but that costs and we know how pained the council is to save money at the expense of your safety and pocket.

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5bob says...
8:16pm Fri 18 Jan 13

The best one I've seen when coming from Pinehurst Rd direction is a car going the correct way round it heading towards Ferndown and another car pass it by going the wrong way. I'm sure this probably isn't a one off either.

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moorsman70 says...
8:18pm Fri 18 Jan 13

yep ive def seen that too 5bob

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ferndun says...
9:25pm Fri 18 Jan 13

Lets get some facts right about this accident. No one was cut out from their vehicle and the door of the car with the lady in it was opened from the inside by a fire fighter using the handle. No cutting, no write offs. People are trying to blow this accident out of proportion. I agree that the disgn is extremely poor and the kerb is too big to allow a decent and safe flow heading towards Ferndown but accidents are normally caused by poor driving and this was indeed the case here.

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BIGTONE says...
10:41pm Fri 18 Jan 13

These mounds of pigeon dung in the middle of the road are a waste of space.

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moorsman70 says...
8:07am Sat 19 Jan 13

ferndun we are highlighting the poor driving on this mini roundabout there will be more crashes due to very poor and dangerous driving,why are there never gathers there but they always on the ringwood road less than 5 mins drive away

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Lin50 says...
9:49am Sat 19 Jan 13

I use this rounadabout every day and have had many times when another car has almost hit mine by going across the middle of the roundabout or from West moors at more than 30 and cutting across the white centre of this roundabout. The only surprise to me is that more accidents havn't happened. Driving this roundabout every day means taking a leap of faith and hoping you wont be rammed. I am not a nervous driver so will not let it put me off but one day someone will be badly injured if it isn't re thought.

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Dont drop litter says...
11:38am Sat 19 Jan 13

There's no doubt that this roundabout is a problem. Whilst it is always the fault of the drivers the shape and positions of the white blob aren't helping. Add to that the fact that some people don't seem able to indicate or making their intentions known - it's a disaster.
I ride a motorcycle and even on that find the junction a problem. There really doesn't seem like there is enough space for a roundabout and there is a shiny metal drain cover right in the middle of the lane - the only way to avoid sliding on it is to ride partially over the white blob whilst trying to ensure that no one hits you.
I think the Council needs to rethink their road strategy completely as every major engineering project they have taken on in recent years has resulted in a worse problem. Castle Lane, Holdenhurst Road, Canford Bottom etc.

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BJAY103 says...
11:39am Mon 21 Jan 13

Hi all
couple of comments, badly designed road lay out do cause accidents, but bad driving does not help, and yes at this accident the door was crushed and unopenable, the fire crew had to force the door open so that the lady could get out, unless you were there you would not know, photos to prove. finally the layout at this roundabout does not stop through traffic travelling the wrong side at speed

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