8:10am Saturday 4th September 2010
By Neil Docking
A MOTORCYCLIST was airlifted to hospital with head injuries and a broken leg and hip after a crash yesterday.
The 36-year-old Blackburn man was riding a bike which collided with a silver Vauxhall in Skipton Road, Earby, at around 1pm.
Police, paramedics and firefighters attended the scene near The Punch Bowl pub, and the man, who is from Blackburn, was taken by Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopter to Royal Blackburn Hospital for treatment.
The driver and passenger in the Vauxhall were taken by ambulance to Airedale Hospital, near Skipton, but their injuries are not thought to be serious.
Nelson fire station manager Barry Hornby said: “Investigations have now begun but it looks like he has come round the bend and hit an oncoming car.
“He suffered a fractured femur, broken pelvis, wrist injuries and head injuries.
“The driver of the car was shook up, but okay.
“It made a real mess of the car, some real impact damage.”
The motorcyclist, who has not been named, is understood to have been riding behind a friend on another motorbike on the road when the accident happened.
The road along its stretch past School Lane was closed in both directions for more than two hours and heavy traffic built up between Colne and Skipton.
The crash happened on the bend at the bottom of the hill where the 60mph road enters Earby from Thornton-in-Craven and has a 30mph speed limit.
Police said they were investigating the incident.
Earby councillor Morris Horsfield said he was concerned that drivers in general did not always take into account the nature of the road.
He said: "They do travel too fast along there. I have even seen cars overtaking.
"It's impossible to see if anything is coming, so if something does then it's really dangerous. It's absolutely ridiculous.
"If you're travelling slow enough then you can sometimes get away with making a mistake, but not when you're going fast."
Coun Chris Tennant said: "I'm not particularly aware of any problem on that stretch because it has recently been widened and straightened.
"It used to be very narrow and bendy. I'm not aware of any big problem, but this does sound like a serious one."
Michelle Cooper, landlady at the Punch Bowl, said: It is an A road, but it's too narrow.
"It's such a bad bend, especially with the big lorries come up and down all the time."
Residents Wesley and Ruth McCabe have lived on Skipton Road for 17 years.
Mr McCabe, 75, said: "It does happen from time to time. A lorry went over a short while ago. It's all the bends.
"But I wouldn't say it's a dangerous road if you're careful."
Mrs McCabe, 76, said: "They come whizzing down the hill really fast and by the time they get down here, there's no way they're doing 30mph."
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