'Cars are lethal in wrong hands'

Frightening figures show the number of fatal car crashes in North Yorkshire has increased in the last nine months - with one happening every four days.

Between April 1, 2005, and January 1, 2006, there were 64 fatal accidents, compared with 57 in the same period last year. And the number of deaths was even higher, because more than one person was killed in some of those accidents.

Kirstie Buckle, whose three-year-old son, Blake Spencer, was killed in a car crash, has issued an emotional plea to drivers to take more care.

Blake was killed instantly when a motorist overtook a school bus on the brow of a hill on a narrow country lane, crashing head on into Kirstie's Rover car, near Saxton.

Kirstie, 23, now living with her parents in Sherburn-in-Elmet, is still in a wheelchair after 12 gruelling operations.

She said: "People don't treat cars with the respect they deserve because they don't think about how potentially dangerous they are. A car is a lethal weapon in the wrong hands.

"They are killing machines - the same as knives or guns.

"People are often in such a rush that they don't think about the consequences of their actions. They think that by speeding they could save a couple of seconds, but they could kill someone."

She said: "The penalty system for dangerous driving should be tougher, so it acts as a deterrent."

York fire chief Graham Buckle said he was concerned about the number of fatal accidents.

He said: "Even one road death is one too many.

"The fire service only attends the most serious accidents and the number of those has certainly gone up."

A fire service report showed that they attended 44 fatal road smashes between April and January - well above their target of 32.

York and Selby, along with Richmondshire and Hambleton, have seen the biggest proportionate increases in road crash deaths.

Mr Buckle said: "There were eight deaths in the city last year and they were all on A roads," he said.

"The main culprits are the A64, the A19 and the A1237. They are long, straight roads and the only real solution is engineering - things like better signage, better designs for carriageways and changing the layout of junctions."

On Tuesday, the Evening Press told how a man died when his Renault Clio swerved into a taxi at the junction of the A19 and Avenue Terrace, near Clifton Green.

Mr Buckle said men under the age of 21 were most at risk of having a fatal crash. Firefighters are targeting them by visiting schools and colleges to educate young people about road safety.

Motorcyclists are also a high-risk group - with 21 killed last year, up from 17 in 2004.

Communications manager Carl Boasman said bad weather was the main cause of accidents.

He said: "Part of the reason for the increase has been bad weather and road conditions. Another contributory factor has been young men not wearing their seat belts."

But a City of York Council spokeswoman said speeding was the main cause.

She said: "The council's road safety team is specifically targeting three groups of drivers - the young, business drivers and those who speed.

"Going too fast is the most common contributory factor in serious road accidents."

Inspector Chris Charlton, North Yorkshire Police's head of traffic, warned motorists to take extra care in treacherous conditions.

He said: "There are consistent messages about speeding and drink driving. Motorists must use an appropriate speed for the road and weather conditions, to avoid drinking any alcohol at all if they are likely to be driving, and always wear a seat belt".

"Get your car taxed and insured and have it serviced regularly."

David Lindsay, county road safety officer for North Yorkshire County Council, said that while the number of accidents in which people were killed had risen, the number of accidents in which people were seriously injured had dropped by 32 per cent in five years.

Edmund King, from the RAC Foundation, said: "It's quite a worry after years of decline that the number of fatal accidents has gone up."

He said the foundation wanted to see more visible traffic police on the roads.

Drivers are failing to wear seatbelts

MOST victims of fatal car crashes on Selby's roads could have survived had they worn seatbelts.

That is the shocking conclusion of a report by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority that reveals the number of fatal smashes in the district increased by a third last year.

Selby firefighters have attended eight fatal road crashes since April 2005, and said in about half of cases the victims would have walked away if they had been wearing their seatbelts.

Jez Rushworth, Selby District group manager, said: "It shocks and saddens us and it is really frustrating because it is such a sad and unnecessary waste of life.

"We are putting a lot of effort into trying to get this message across so that we can have more of our young men alive when they are 30."

Firefighters covering Selby and Tadcaster logged three fatal crashes in both September and December last year, and one in both October and November.

The figures were published in North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority's annual performance report and cover the period from April 2005 to January 12.

Now firefighters are stepping up their high-profile campaigns in schools and among young male drivers, who are most likely to end up in smashes.

Colin Hunter, station manager for Selby district, said: "It seems to be a problem with the younger male drivers not wearing their seatbelts.

"I have been to head-on collisions where the people in one vehicle have had seat belts on and walked away relatively unscathed and the people in the other vehicle have been seriously injured or killed.

"The message we try to get across to those young drivers is: Do you want to look cool or do you want to live?"

Selby firefighters are promoting the safe-driving message in schools with their hard-hitting presentations Drive Alive and Impact Road Show.

Roll call of death on roads

Some recent fatal crashes reported in the Evening Press:

December 25: Neil Houliston, 17, of Field Avenue, Thorpe Willoughby, near Selby, died when his car was involved in a head-on collision near Brayton.

December 12: Samuel David Foster, 21, of Brigg Lane, Camblesforth, died when he was travelling in the back of a silver Renault Clio on the A1041, at West Cowick, when it left the road and hit a tree.

December 9: Richard Allan Orr, 25, from Selby, was killed when his white Vauxhall van hit an electricity pole in New Road, Gateforth.

December 6: Grandmother Pamela Kirby, 67, from Rawcliffe, York, died after a 4x4 vehicle crashed into railings and a traffic lights pole outside Harrogate Exhibition Centre, in King's Road, Harrogate, knocking over the lights which hit Mrs Kirby.

Alexander William Mackay, 20, of Flaxley Road, Selby, died on the same day, when his blue Ford Granada came off the road and hit a tree in Sherburn Road, shortly after midnight.

October 22: A motorcyclist died when he collided with an HGV as he turned on to the A645 from Kellington Lane, At Eggborough, near Selby.

On the same day a woman was killed when her MG sports car crashed near Northallerton.

October 6: A man was killed in a six-vehicle pile-up outside Sherburn-in-Elmet. The accident happened on the A162 Sherburn bypass, between the village and South Milford.

October 4: Barry James Proctor, 61, of Dikelands Lane, Upper Poppleton, died when his car was in collision with a Dutch articulated lorry on the A1237 York outer ring road.

September 19: Lillian Courtney, 89, and her 57-year-old son, Graham, from Auster Bank Avenue, Tadcaster, both died after their car crashed into a tree on the A64 near Bilbrough Top.

Updated: 08:52 Saturday, January 21, 2006