Woman, 74, fights for life after being struck down in Nelson horror smash

10:30am Thursday 6th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Chris Gee, Reporter

DRAMA Paramedics attend to the injured woman in Leeds Road DRAMA Paramedics attend to the injured woman in Leeds Road

AN ELDERLY woman was in a critical condition after being thrown ‘more than 10 feet in the air’ after being struck by a car on a notorious main road.

The 74-year-old, who witnesses said was clutching a bus pass, was struck by a green Honda Civic car while crossing Leeds Road, Nelson, at around noon yesterday.

The driver of the car, a 19-year-old local man, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of dangerous driving.

Witnesses described hearing the screeching of tyres in the moments before the collision, close to the junction with Beech Street.

A half-mile stretch of the busy road, from Walton Street to St Philip’s Church, was closed for more than five hours yesterday as investigations got underway.

The pensioner was airlifted to hospital.

The air ambulance landed on a grassed area at the back of terrace homes in Leeds Road and the victim was flown to Royal Preston Hospital where her condition last night was described as critical.

Frazer Scott, 23, from Blackburn, who works at Kwik Fit on Leeds Road saw the ‘horrifying’ incident unfold.

He said: “I was in the yard when I heard a loud skidding noise. I turned round and saw the Honda travelling towards the old lady, who was crossing the road.

“It must have skidded about 30 to 40 feet before the front offside of the car struck her. She was thrown high into the air, around 10 feet. It was sickening to see, terrible.

“I ran across to help along with other people and luckily a lady with medical experience stopped and looked after her until an ambulance, and later the helicopter arrived.”

Last night police were conducting skid tests and measuring tyre marks close to the point of the collision.

Tariq Chaudhry, 50, who runs Ghausia Halal Meat, in Leeds Road, said he and many of his neighbours were concerned about the speed of traffic on Leeds Road.

He said: “It’s a long, straight stretch of road and people can gather up speed very quickly.

“A lot of us have been worried about the safety of the road. There are no cameras or traffic calming measures on this part of the road.

“Everyone in the neighbourhood is shaken up by this and we are all hoping that this lady is going to be okay.”

Coun Eileen Ansar, a Pendle councillor and Nelson Town Council chairman, said: “I am so sorry to hear about this accident and my thoughts are with her and her family.

“This is not the first time we have had problems along Leeds Road. We need to put some measures in place which will curb drivers’ speeds – it’s a nightmare stretch of road.”

Three years ago 33-year-old Amanda Bailey, was killed by a speeding hit-and-run driver in Leeds Road, not far from yesterday’s accident site.

Sgt Finn Quainton, from the road policing unit, said: “I would appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time and who witnessed the collision to come forward and contact us.

“The family of the lady involved are being informed and specially trained family liaison officers will be supporting and working with them.”

The arrested teenager, who was the only occupant of the car involved, remained in custody at Burnley Police Station last night.

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call the Road Policing Unit at Colne on 101.

Comments (9)

10:48am Thu 6 Sep 12

chris283 says...

put some kind of deterrent on the road how many has to be injured before the council do somert lets see somert for our money we pay the council will it happen doubt it very much
put some kind of deterrent on the road how many has to be injured before the council do somert lets see somert for our money we pay the council will it happen doubt it very much chris283

12:53pm Thu 6 Sep 12

ROBERTSLUMDWELLER123 says...

typical councillor Ansar,slamming stable door after the horses done a runner!! we need to put measures in place which will curb drivers speeds,,did the act the time when the young woman was killed 3 years ago,,bit late for the crocodile tears councillor's get off your fat lazy arses and act now!!!
typical councillor Ansar,slamming stable door after the horses done a runner!! we need to put measures in place which will curb drivers speeds,,did the act the time when the young woman was killed 3 years ago,,bit late for the crocodile tears councillor's get off your fat lazy arses and act now!!! ROBERTSLUMDWELLER123

2:04pm Thu 6 Sep 12

chris283 says...

Robert could not agree wit you more we give them enough money start using it instead of wasting money on that eye sore in the middle of nelson
Robert could not agree wit you more we give them enough money start using it instead of wasting money on that eye sore in the middle of nelson chris283

3:32pm Thu 6 Sep 12

starling77 says...

The vast majority of drivers who use that road do so perfectly safely - they don't need measures to curb their speeds. It's the small minority of empty-heads with no sense of responsibility that spoil the roads for drivers and pedestrians alike. Tougher sentences and longer bans for dangerous/careless driving are long overdue.
The vast majority of drivers who use that road do so perfectly safely - they don't need measures to curb their speeds. It's the small minority of empty-heads with no sense of responsibility that spoil the roads for drivers and pedestrians alike. Tougher sentences and longer bans for dangerous/careless driving are long overdue. starling77

8:35pm Thu 6 Sep 12

timeforcommonsense says...

Looking at the length of skid marks on the road, that guy was flying.
Looking at the length of skid marks on the road, that guy was flying. timeforcommonsense

7:05am Fri 7 Sep 12

AnthonyUK says...

Asians and teenagers go car racing every night on roads throughout East Lancashire and think it's cool to show off to their mates risking the lives of other;they should the ones paying the price for doing things like this when it happens. Driver education courses for these thugs(and that's what they are) are merely token gesture in a bid to get them to change their ways-you think teenagers asians and young people are going be preached to by our our politically correct police force(who is frightened of upsetting or arresting them)? They're not gonna listen. The police shouldn't recoil in horror to these kids they should **** arrest them and judges should not be soft on them but give HARD long prison sentences and they should be banned from driving ever again and insurance companies should refuse to insure them on their books as well.
Asians and teenagers go car racing every night on roads throughout East Lancashire and think it's cool to show off to their mates risking the lives of other;they should the ones paying the price for doing things like this when it happens. Driver education courses for these thugs(and that's what they are) are merely token gesture in a bid to get them to change their ways-you think teenagers asians and young people are going be preached to by our our politically correct police force(who is frightened of upsetting or arresting them)? They're not gonna listen. The police shouldn't recoil in horror to these kids they should **** arrest them and judges should not be soft on them but give HARD long prison sentences and they should be banned from driving ever again and insurance companies should refuse to insure them on their books as well. AnthonyUK

7:05am Fri 7 Sep 12

AnthonyUK says...

Asians and teenagers go car racing every night on roads throughout East Lancashire and think it's cool to show off to their mates risking the lives of others;they should be the ones paying the price for doing things like this when it happens. Driver education courses for these thugs(and that's what they are) are merely token gesture in a bid to get them to change their ways-you think teenagers asians and young people are going be preached to by our our politically correct police force(who is frightened of upsetting or arresting them)? They're not gonna listen. The police shouldn't recoil in horror to these kids they should **** arrest them and judges should not be soft on them but give HARD long prison sentences and they should be banned from driving ever again and insurance companies should refuse to insure them on their books as well.
Asians and teenagers go car racing every night on roads throughout East Lancashire and think it's cool to show off to their mates risking the lives of others;they should be the ones paying the price for doing things like this when it happens. Driver education courses for these thugs(and that's what they are) are merely token gesture in a bid to get them to change their ways-you think teenagers asians and young people are going be preached to by our our politically correct police force(who is frightened of upsetting or arresting them)? They're not gonna listen. The police shouldn't recoil in horror to these kids they should **** arrest them and judges should not be soft on them but give HARD long prison sentences and they should be banned from driving ever again and insurance companies should refuse to insure them on their books as well. AnthonyUK

12:01pm Fri 7 Sep 12

will12 says...

Firstly my Prayer's go to the poor Lady who was victim to, what I can only describe as attempted murder.

Totally agree Starling 77.

Again its the minority who make the majority pay !!!!

LCC has spent an untold amount of money on errecting 20mph signs on every side street that the you can see !!!

For what ?????

The Police have admitted that the are powerless to do anything to anyone who speeds in these area's !!!!

If the Power's in their Ivory Tower's actually spoke to the people who have to live with all this anti-social behaviour all the time, then they would be able to put Law's in place to stop all this s$$$ !!!!

This Driver knew what he was doing when he put his foot on the pedal, and he is old enough to know that speed kill's !!!

Therefore any vehicle that can achieve speeds that kill, should be classified as dangerous as a gun or a knife !!!

How many times have we heard of people being killed by a motor vehicle, and then given a sentence that is basically a slap on the hand !!!!

A 1 ton car is a murder weapon !!!!

Rapist's, Paedophile's, Murderer's, should be given the same sentence the Victim's get, and that is either life or death, personally I would give them all a bullet, now theres a Cut Cameron, how much would that save !!!

After all, if a dog bite's someone, its life is terminated, because its dangerous and can't be trusted, yet the same is not applied to human's ?????

I know my limitation's and boundaries with animal's, but the vermin that walk this planet as so-called human's makes my blood boil !!!

My apologies for the Rant, but my thought's are with this poor woman, who was doing nothing more than minding her own business and then some lunatic thinks their "king of the road" and completely destroys her life as she knew it !!!!!

The Driver's life should be destroyed, as the Bible states, "an eye for an eye", because I know of another driver who killed an innocent victim, and was laughing with his mate's after spending 6 weeks in jail for the crime !!

The sooner we scrap Human Right's and adopt the American "3 Strike's " the better !!!

And for those that object to my views on how we should treat the CRIMINAL'S, we are actually living in the h*ll you have created, and its never going to get better with this "mamby-pamby" treatment of vermin!!!!, treat them as vermin and exterminate the lot of 'em !!!!
Firstly my Prayer's go to the poor Lady who was victim to, what I can only describe as attempted murder. Totally agree Starling 77. Again its the minority who make the majority pay !!!! LCC has spent an untold amount of money on errecting 20mph signs on every side street that the you can see !!! For what ????? The Police have admitted that the are powerless to do anything to anyone who speeds in these area's !!!! If the Power's in their Ivory Tower's actually spoke to the people who have to live with all this anti-social behaviour all the time, then they would be able to put Law's in place to stop all this s$$$ !!!! This Driver knew what he was doing when he put his foot on the pedal, and he is old enough to know that speed kill's !!! Therefore any vehicle that can achieve speeds that kill, should be classified as dangerous as a gun or a knife !!! How many times have we heard of people being killed by a motor vehicle, and then given a sentence that is basically a slap on the hand !!!! A 1 ton car is a murder weapon !!!! Rapist's, Paedophile's, Murderer's, should be given the same sentence the Victim's get, and that is either life or death, personally I would give them all a bullet, now theres a Cut Cameron, how much would that save !!! After all, if a dog bite's someone, its life is terminated, because its dangerous and can't be trusted, yet the same is not applied to human's ????? I know my limitation's and boundaries with animal's, but the vermin that walk this planet as so-called human's makes my blood boil !!! My apologies for the Rant, but my thought's are with this poor woman, who was doing nothing more than minding her own business and then some lunatic thinks their "king of the road" and completely destroys her life as she knew it !!!!! The Driver's life should be destroyed, as the Bible states, "an eye for an eye", because I know of another driver who killed an innocent victim, and was laughing with his mate's after spending 6 weeks in jail for the crime !! The sooner we scrap Human Right's and adopt the American "3 Strike's " the better !!! And for those that object to my views on how we should treat the CRIMINAL'S, we are actually living in the h*ll you have created, and its never going to get better with this "mamby-pamby" treatment of vermin!!!!, treat them as vermin and exterminate the lot of 'em !!!! will12

2:58pm Fri 7 Sep 12

ROBERTSLUMDWELLER123 says...

AnthonyUK wrote:
Asians and teenagers go car racing every night on roads throughout East Lancashire and think it's cool to show off to their mates risking the lives of other;they should the ones paying the price for doing things like this when it happens. Driver education courses for these thugs(and that's what they are) are merely token gesture in a bid to get them to change their ways-you think teenagers asians and young people are going be preached to by our our politically correct police force(who is frightened of upsetting or arresting them)? They're not gonna listen. The police shouldn't recoil in horror to these kids they should **** arrest them and judges should not be soft on them but give HARD long prison sentences and they should be banned from driving ever again and insurance companies should refuse to insure them on their books as well.
i Did'nt know Asians went from children then manhood??? skipping thier teenage years???
[quote][p][bold]AnthonyUK[/bold] wrote: Asians and teenagers go car racing every night on roads throughout East Lancashire and think it's cool to show off to their mates risking the lives of other;they should the ones paying the price for doing things like this when it happens. Driver education courses for these thugs(and that's what they are) are merely token gesture in a bid to get them to change their ways-you think teenagers asians and young people are going be preached to by our our politically correct police force(who is frightened of upsetting or arresting them)? They're not gonna listen. The police shouldn't recoil in horror to these kids they should **** arrest them and judges should not be soft on them but give HARD long prison sentences and they should be banned from driving ever again and insurance companies should refuse to insure them on their books as well.[/p][/quote]i Did'nt know Asians went from children then manhood??? skipping thier teenage years??? ROBERTSLUMDWELLER123

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