Councillor Welcomes A62’s Improved Safety Record
The junction of the A62, Doctor Lane and Platting Road in Scouthead.
A councillor who has long campaigned for better safety measures on the A62 Huddersfield Road has welcomed the reduction in accidents on it.
Cllr Derek Heffernan, who lives close to the road in Austerlands, said he was “delighted” at the improvement.
Last year, there were just three crashes in which someone was injured on the A62 in Saddleworth and Lees. That compares with an average of more than seven per year between 2000 and 2009.
Although two of the accidents involved someone being seriously injured, nobody was killed.
In another positive sign, there were no incidents at all on the stretch of the road which passes through Scouthead and Austerlands. There were 27 crashes there between 2000 and 2009, many at or near the notorious junction with Doctor Lane and Platting Road.
Cllr Derek Heffernan
Cllr Heffernan commented: “Although the two accidents involving serious injury are very regrettable, the fact that there were no fatalities means that there are no grieving families mourning the loss of loved ones; very often young people on the threshold of life.”
He added: “Let us hope that the improvement continues especially around the Doctor Lane and Platting Road junction, and between Delph and Austerlands chimney.”
The statistics were revealed to Saddleworth News by Oldham Council under Freedom of Information laws. Among the measures introduced on the A62 over the years are lower speed limits and vehicle-activated warning signs aimed at speeding drivers.
The improvement is part of a wider pattern across Saddleworth and Lees. There’s been a decline in both the amount of incidents and the total number of casualties over the last decade.
The figures show that, in 2000, there were 89 accidents in Saddleworth and Lees, in which 135 people were injured with two others being killed. By last year that had declined to just 42 incidents, with 65 injuries, although four people died.
You can read more Saddleworth News articles about the statistics here and here.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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