# Fatal RTA today on A65 Skipton Road



## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

Wasnt sure whether to post about this but as this road is well known to northern TT owners I thought I would.

I had a meeting this morning in Morecombe, went up the Motorway from Leeds. Coming home I decided to come down the A65 Skipton road as it was a nice day and its a nice winding road.

Anyway, around Kirby Lonsdale I round a corner and theres an RTA in front of me, 1 non involved car had already stopped. I have zero first aid knowledge (which after today I intend to put right) but as TTs have first aid kits and the car thats stopped is an older car I thought at least that may come in useful.

Anyway, I pull over and its a head on, not a small cuts and scrapes bump as I had thought. An 06 Passat has no front end, airbags all deployed and its in a field. Bloke and his wife are slightly injured but ok.

Vauxhall MPV (mid sized one whatever that is) has no bonnet left, its gone to the windscreen just about. 3 kids from that are in the non involved car being comforted by a woman, they have minor injuries but are clearly in shock.

The Dad is in the MPV cradling the woman (his wife) when she loses conciousness, guy from the other car is in the Navy and knows some first aid/accident stuff (he was very good but it was an impossible battle) and tries mouth to mouth etc but she dies. As you can imagine the Dad (mid to late thirties) just falls to bits. Paramedics turn up 5 minutes later and confirm shes gone.

Now, I'm known by friends and family for being quite hard nosed and not getting emotional about stuff but to see that was just too much for me, especially as a family man, and I found it very upsetting, I cant imagine how the people directly involved must feel, I cant begin to even get close to empathising properly and really all I can say is im totally gutted for them, a tiny mistake (dont know on who's part) and 30 minutes later and their lives are completely changed forever.

Complete shitter!


----------



## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

Good post, a touching story & one to surely wake a few people up.

I know that road very well, as being a biker (up until a couple of years ago), i'm guessing you must have been very close to Devils Bridge & that was a regular haunt for me.

On several occasions, i'd be out riding with larger groups & one of the people on our ride-out would be involved in an accident (usually a dopey old car drivers fault) & on at least 3 occasions the rider involved was killed. It's a sobering event & the best you can take from this is the obvious wake up call about all our driving habits & if you now take a 1st aid course, that may well save someones life in the future, so again a small positive.

Really feel for you as it's a horrible thing to experience. Take care.


----------



## John C (Jul 5, 2002)

Leg said:


> 3 kids


The thought of my little ones without their Mum horrifies me.

Awful, simply awful.


----------



## Multiprocess (Aug 9, 2004)

Tragic, tragic post!!


----------



## GW1970 (Jul 4, 2005)

How really very sad


----------



## Kell (May 28, 2002)

It always brings it home just how vulnerable you are when you see something like this.

Travelling back from Devon on Monday we were almost home when the traffic in front of us pulled up sharply. Given that we'd been stuck in trafic for the best part of six hours, another hold up was all we needed.

It turned out that a cyclist had been knocked off his bike. :?

Police were there - nothing we could do - but he didn't look in a good way.


----------



## Soulctrla (Jan 30, 2006)

thats aweful,

I have a friend who lost her dad in a motorcycle accident the christmas before last.... 1 week prior to christmas day.

I have never ever known sadness like it.

She lost her dad - her mother is in bits and her two young brothers are all in bits....

Some year and a bit on they are doing well but its one of those things you can never understand until it happens to you -

I was genuinly saddened when i read the above post and it brings back memories from last year but unless your directly involved i cant understand and never want to know what that must feel like.

Im not a religeous person and shit like this makes me question "the good hand of god" kids stripped of their mother ! its just wicked !


----------



## a18eem (Sep 24, 2005)

dude, that must have been harsh to see..... someone die infront of you,wow...my heart goes out to the family, hope you are ok too !


----------



## teucer2000 (May 14, 2002)

Very sad but well done for stopping and trying to help.


----------



## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

Poor poor family, well done for stopping Leg


----------



## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Sad story indeed! And they worry about fecking bird flu!! :?

However it could have been you, or anyone else, in the field/on roadside "Coming home I decided to come down the A65 Skipton road as it was a nice day and its a nice winding road. "

Sort brings everything back down to Earth.


----------



## DW225 (Jun 22, 2005)

A very sobering post indeed m8....especially considering this weekend's Mid Wales run....things like that can just happen in the blink of an eye 

Hope you're doing ok after witnessing such a traumatic scene.

Dave 8)


----------



## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I didnt suffer a jot in the grand scale of things, my sympathy lies wholly with the family who lost their Mum. Cant imagine how they are feeling this morning.

BBC report - brief and innacurate

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nort ... 924188.stm


----------



## tj (May 7, 2002)

Leg, well done for stopping. 
Sometimes having a passing knowledge of first aid can still render you useless. I had the misfortune to see a guy shoot down a slope and into a tree when on my first skiing trip. We were both with our daughters, around lunchtime, and no one was about. I knew when I saw him pick up speed followed by the subsequent noise of the impact that it was major. Although I have done first aid before I felt absolutely helpless - seeing him in a heap and hearing his gargled breathing all I felt was panic. Had there been anyone else there I'm sure I would have felt and reacted as I would have hoped to have done. As it was I was desperately trying to passify his daughter that he would be ok and to raise the alarm. After a few minutes others came down the slope and the air ambulance was called out. He did survive a couple of brain ops but died 12 months later. If there is a message I think it's that sometimes nothing can prepare you for what you might face.


----------



## hemTT (Oct 12, 2004)

Awful!

I know the road well!

Well done for stopping Leg!


----------



## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Sadly this happens to approx 3500 souls every year on our roads. 

Mostly we see these as a govt stat, a newspaper or radio report; sometimes, such as on this occasion, we witness it first hand; other times we, or our friends and loved ones are directly involved in incidents.

It's all harrowing. I saw 4 of my mates die when I was in my mid twenties in a wreck that only I survived. The kind lady who saved my bacon got a Fire Brigade Bravery award. That sort of stuff stays with one.

In a perverse way we need these reminders of our own mortality just to keep check on our own road conduct sometimes. Accidents will continue to happen, regardless of speed cameras or raising of driving standards, and there will always be a cause and blame.

What we have to keep in mind, despite all of life's angry road rage bozos, despite poor driving compounding small mistakes to tragedy, and despite pure chance circumstances and tiomings creating accidents, the roads are still safer than they have ever been.

But every death is a tragedy and I feel for those kids and father, all of whom have a different journey of pain to now complete, "If we hadn't stopped for that toilet break", "I chose to leave earlier", "Why us?" etc etc

Sad tale. Take it easy out there.


----------



## TTotal (Aug 12, 2002)

As said, we are all moments away from this ourselves, either as a "spectator" or as a casualty...

My personal worry is that I would not be able to do much to help due to lack of training.

The answer is as you will all tell me is to get some training asap.

I will make this one of the items of "must do's" and hope that I will get on with this ASAP.

It would be a great idea if schools made basic first aid as part of our education.


----------



## CapTT (Mar 2, 2003)

A sad and ever too regular event on our roads unfortunately as has been said already well done for stopping and having a go anyway , many people today would just leg it . If you are interested in improving your first aid/RTA incident management skills one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways is to join your local RACMSA motor club and get involved in Marshalling being it Rally or Race. Learn from the roots up and enjoy your motorsport. There are many free training days and courses available to interested individuals and you can work your way up as far up the ladder as you want to go at your own pace. Have a look here and on the RACMSA website :

http://www.volunteersinmotorsport.co.uk/training.php

I have been on many interesting courses over the years and you always learn something new and valuable every time you go. Many senior surgeons/doctors and professional rescue service people give superb training to motorsport all the time free of charge.


----------

