Councillors defend by-pass despite serious collisions



THE safety of Formby's by-pass has been defended after another serious crash.

Three vehicles collided on the North bound carriageway on Thursday morning last week.

The crash took place outside RAF Woodvale and comes just weeks after a collision between a motorcycle and a car near Tesco.

A fire brigade spokesman said: "Fire Engines from Formby and Southport both attended the scene.

"Three adults had to be cut free from their vehicles and a fourth person had already been pulled free.

"Three of the victims were suffering back, neck and minor head injuries, and a 50-year-old man had an ankle injury.

"Fire Engines from RAF Woodvale also attended before the four people were taken to Southport Hospital," he added.

Merseyside Police can't comment on individual accidents but two councillors were willing to discuss the roads general safety record.

Councillor Gill Cuthbertson believes the road should be safe with the existing measures in place.

She said: "The 50mph speed limit has been in place for some time but I'm not sure if everyone is abiding by it.

"Ironically I got caught in the resulting traffic, I use the road regularly but I'm still getting overtaken by people speeding.

"I can only assume that some people are unaware that it's a 50mph road," she added.

Councillor Alf Doran, a traffic officer himself for 12 years, agrees that the road is safe.

He said: "I have the opinion that there is no such thing as a dangerous road.

"The by-pass is normally a safe road considering the speeds people travel.

"What we have done in the past is to try to close several cut-through in the central reservation from the BP garage in the south. From my experience a lot of accidents happen because drivers crossing the duel carriageway miscalculate the speed of other vehicles," he added.

By Andrew Ashcroft



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