Bridport woman hurt in three-car coast road crash (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Bridport woman hurt in three-car coast road crash

11:13am Thursday 5th November 2009

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A BRIDPORT woman was left seriously injured after a three-car crash on the Weymouth coast road.

She had to be cut out of her green Renault Clio after suffering suspected broken arms and pelvic injuries.

She was taken by air ambulance to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester.

Emergency services were called to the crash between Abbotsbury and Portesham at about 12.30pm on Tuesday.

Another Bridport woman, driving a red Renault Clio, and a Plymouth man driving a Toyota Avensis were unhurt but were treated at the scene for shock.

The B3157 road was closed for most of the afternoon while the cars were removed.

Residents in Portesham said they were not surprised by the accident. Ann Martin, who owns Portesham Post Office, described the road as an ‘accident waiting to happen’.

She said: “Taking the white lines away is absolutely crazy so I am not shocked by this at all.

“It was going to happen at some point because that road is notorious for being dangerous, especially in bad weather conditions.”

The crash came on a section of road with white lines, although there have been concerns about some sections of the road where the markings had been removed.

The county council left the road without the markings in an experiment aiming to reduce road traffic casualties by taking away ‘road clutter’ including white lines and signs.

Mrs Martin added: “I understand the experiment of taking away the lines, but the roads in Dorset are not flat or straight and so it is dangerous.”

Bridport county councillor Karl Wallace, who has been campaigning to have centre white lines restored along the entire road, said: “There might have been centre lines on this section but this latest serious accident simple goes to prove how inherently dangerous this road is – one of the most treacherous in Dorset.

“This was on a sunny day and it just goes to show how many distractions there are along the route. As the winter goes on and the weather gets worse we will have more crashes like this and I would urge the county council to put back the lines and make this road safer.”

Robert Smith, the council’s road safety team manager, said people should stop blaming the road.

“It has been proven that 95 per cent of road traffic accidents are caused by human error. This might be driving too fast for the circumstances, being distracted by a mobile phone, radio or SatNav, not wearing a seatbelt or being under the influences of alcohol or drugs.

“It is the people who use it who cause the accidents.”

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