Northamptonshire Personal Injury
A TOP engineer who helped lead the development of Hesketh motorbikes in Northamptonshire had to be airlifted to hospital after he was caught in an explosion while working on a hovercraft.
Mick Broom was airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for treatment to burns after the accident in Bengal Lane, Greens Norton, yesterday afternoon.
Neighbour James Shepherd-Cross rushed to the scene after hearing gas cylinders explode in the workshop where Mr Broom was working.
He said: “I was one of the first on the scene. I heard an explosion and saw black smoke coming out of the place, so I ran out there.
“The cylinders were still going off at the time. I knew the best thing I could do was to put water on him, so I put a hose on him and kept it on. It was awful.
“But the air ambulance and the paramedics were there incredibly quickly.”
Houses within 300ft of Mr Broom’s workshop were evacuated for 24 hours after the explosion and the fire service set up a cordon around the building because they feared more gas cylinders on the site could explode.
Northamptonshire’s chief fire officer, Martyn Emberson, was called to the scene along with 30 other firefighters.
He said: “The gentleman was doing some work on a hovercraft that was in the garage.
“What actually happened, we don’t know, but one of the garages is now just a burned-out shell and some of the cylinders that were in there have exploded.
“We had to set up the exclusion zone because we take gas cylinders very seriously. If they explode, projectiles can be blown over a very long distance.”
Mr Broom began working for Lord Hesketh at Easton Neston House in 1979 on a project to build motorbikes.
He worked as the development engineer for the company, which was originally based in Easton Neston’s stable block.
During three decades working on Hesketh bikes, Mr Broom estimates that he has built about 250 of the machines.
source: northamptonchron.co.uk
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Chester motorcyclist died in crash after trying to avoid cat in the road
Cheshire Personal Injury
A MOTORCYCLIST died after crashing into a lamppost when he swerved to avoid a cat, an inquest heard.
David Alexander James Elson, 26, from Cornwall Road, Upton was riding along Liverpool Road towards Parkgate Road in Neston at 4.30am on September 28 last year when he lost control of his Kawasaki ZXR 600.
The crash was witnessed by Stephen Kay, who was walking home after spending the night at his girlfriend’s house.
Mr Kay was still too distressed over the incident to attend the inquest so he supplied a written statement.
It read: “The front wheel caught the curb and the bike just slid across the road. The driver came off and was lying on his back. He asked me to move him off the road.”
A passing milkman saw the bike crash from a distance and arrived at the scene to find Mr Kay crouching over the injured man, who was groaning on the floor.
An ambulance was called and David was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital. He was later moved to Walton Hospital for specialist treatment after doctors discovered he had fractured his spine. His spinal cord was damaged and he was paralysed from the neck down.
Cheshire Police collision investigator Michael Prime told the inquest Mr Elson was travelling at around 34 mph, which was not excessive.
He also noted that pieces of crash helmet at the base of a nearby lamp post made it ‘highly likely’ that he had hit his head. The post was around 8.5m away from where he fell off the bike.
Medical staff established that David had fractured vertebrae in his neck and that the spinal cord had been damaged. He had an emergency operation but his condition started to deteriorate.
He developed deep vein thrombosis which left clots in his bowel and other organs, causing them to shut down, and he died at Walton Hospital on September 26, six days after the accident.
David’s distraught mother Susan Elson, accompanied by her husband and family members, told assistant deputy coroner for Cheshire Jean Harkin: “David was my baby, my youngest child. He was a family man. He loved his family, especially his seven-year-old son.
“He told me he had swerved so he wouldn’t hit a cat. It was the last thing he remembered.”
Verdict: Accidental death.
Source: chesterchronicle.co.uk
A MOTORCYCLIST died after crashing into a lamppost when he swerved to avoid a cat, an inquest heard.
David Alexander James Elson, 26, from Cornwall Road, Upton was riding along Liverpool Road towards Parkgate Road in Neston at 4.30am on September 28 last year when he lost control of his Kawasaki ZXR 600.
The crash was witnessed by Stephen Kay, who was walking home after spending the night at his girlfriend’s house.
Mr Kay was still too distressed over the incident to attend the inquest so he supplied a written statement.
It read: “The front wheel caught the curb and the bike just slid across the road. The driver came off and was lying on his back. He asked me to move him off the road.”
A passing milkman saw the bike crash from a distance and arrived at the scene to find Mr Kay crouching over the injured man, who was groaning on the floor.
An ambulance was called and David was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital. He was later moved to Walton Hospital for specialist treatment after doctors discovered he had fractured his spine. His spinal cord was damaged and he was paralysed from the neck down.
Cheshire Police collision investigator Michael Prime told the inquest Mr Elson was travelling at around 34 mph, which was not excessive.
He also noted that pieces of crash helmet at the base of a nearby lamp post made it ‘highly likely’ that he had hit his head. The post was around 8.5m away from where he fell off the bike.
Medical staff established that David had fractured vertebrae in his neck and that the spinal cord had been damaged. He had an emergency operation but his condition started to deteriorate.
He developed deep vein thrombosis which left clots in his bowel and other organs, causing them to shut down, and he died at Walton Hospital on September 26, six days after the accident.
David’s distraught mother Susan Elson, accompanied by her husband and family members, told assistant deputy coroner for Cheshire Jean Harkin: “David was my baby, my youngest child. He was a family man. He loved his family, especially his seven-year-old son.
“He told me he had swerved so he wouldn’t hit a cat. It was the last thing he remembered.”
Verdict: Accidental death.
Source: chesterchronicle.co.uk
Police crackdown on speed to cut accident rates
Grimsby Personal Injury
STICK to the limit - not your foot to the floor.
That's the message from road safety chiefs who have launched a campaign to cut accident rates.
Speed is a killer and figures show one of the main causes of many fatal and serious road collisions is excessive or inappropriate speed.
Throughout August police will be ensuring drivers use 100 per cent concentration and will enforce speed limits on North East Lincolnshire's roads.
Around 70 per cent of motorists exceed speed limits during every day journeys in urban speed limits.
Chief Inspector Darren Downs, of Humberside Police operations branch, said: "The majority of motorists who are caught exceeding the speed limit do not do so intentionally.
"They become distracted and are often unaware of the speed they are travelling at. The issue is about reminding drivers to refocus their concentration and that is what we aim to do through this campaign and ultimately reduce collisions and casualties on our roads."
Chief Superintendent Colin Andrews, added: "Speed awareness is not the only aspect of road safety we want the public to think about at this time of year as it is vital we all play our part in order to make our region's roads safer, so I would ask not only motorists but also the families of drivers and bikers to urge them to slow down and concentrate when venturing out onto our local roads.
"It is vital at this time of year that motorists and parents alike play their part in reducing the number of casualties on our roads by allowing more time for your journey, driving sensibly in accordance with the road conditions and nature of the road itself and also making sure your children are aware of the safest places to cross the roads around where you live or by preventing them from being able run out on their own."
People stopped for speeding throughout the course of the month-long campaign will be dealt with in the most appropriate manner.
Most will be offered the chance of attending a speed awareness course.
There are about 2,000 motorists every month in Humberside now opting to attend various diversion scheme courses as an alternative to prosecution.
source: thisisgrimsby.co.uk
STICK to the limit - not your foot to the floor.
That's the message from road safety chiefs who have launched a campaign to cut accident rates.
Speed is a killer and figures show one of the main causes of many fatal and serious road collisions is excessive or inappropriate speed.
Throughout August police will be ensuring drivers use 100 per cent concentration and will enforce speed limits on North East Lincolnshire's roads.
Around 70 per cent of motorists exceed speed limits during every day journeys in urban speed limits.
Chief Inspector Darren Downs, of Humberside Police operations branch, said: "The majority of motorists who are caught exceeding the speed limit do not do so intentionally.
"They become distracted and are often unaware of the speed they are travelling at. The issue is about reminding drivers to refocus their concentration and that is what we aim to do through this campaign and ultimately reduce collisions and casualties on our roads."
Chief Superintendent Colin Andrews, added: "Speed awareness is not the only aspect of road safety we want the public to think about at this time of year as it is vital we all play our part in order to make our region's roads safer, so I would ask not only motorists but also the families of drivers and bikers to urge them to slow down and concentrate when venturing out onto our local roads.
"It is vital at this time of year that motorists and parents alike play their part in reducing the number of casualties on our roads by allowing more time for your journey, driving sensibly in accordance with the road conditions and nature of the road itself and also making sure your children are aware of the safest places to cross the roads around where you live or by preventing them from being able run out on their own."
People stopped for speeding throughout the course of the month-long campaign will be dealt with in the most appropriate manner.
Most will be offered the chance of attending a speed awareness course.
There are about 2,000 motorists every month in Humberside now opting to attend various diversion scheme courses as an alternative to prosecution.
source: thisisgrimsby.co.uk
Driver suffers 'life-threatening' injuries in head-on crash in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire Personal Injury
A 70-YEAR-OLD man has been airlifted to hospital after being involved in a head-on crash.
The unnamed pensioner is said to have "life-threatening" injuries after the blue Suzuki Swift he was driving collided with a white Ford transit van in a smash that left his car a crumpled mess of metal.
The driver, of Bucknall, near Woodhall Spa, was cut from the wreckage and taken to Lincoln County Hospital with "significant" chest, leg and pelvis injuries. He is currently on a ventilator, police said.
The driver of the van is not believed to have sustained serious injuries, but was also taken to Lincoln County Hospital for treatment.
The accident happened on the B1190, near Thimbleby Lakes – a stretch of road which has two sharp bends one after the other – between Thimbleby and Horsington, near Horncastle, just before 11.30am yesterday.
After the vehicles collided, the Suzuki ended up in a ditch. The van came to a stop across the road, with a damage to its passenger side.
Inspector Rob Gowler from Lincolnshire Police was at the scene.
He said: "At the moment it's not clear what caused the accident and we are carrying out tests and inquiries to answer that question.
"We would like a witness appeal to go out for a driver we believe was in the area. A lady with two teenage children turned up at some point around 11.30am in a silver Vauxhall Astra, which we believe was an old-style vehicle with 1999 V-plates, perhaps.
"We believe she stopped initially but was not at the scene when we arrived. We don't know what her involvement in the collision was at this time, but we would very much like for her to get in touch."
The road was closed for several hours while officers worked the scene and recovery crews moved the wreckage.
One person, who lives around the corner from where the accident happened, but asked not to be named, said: "It can be a tricky stretch of road to drive on with the tight bends around here."
Fire crews from Horncastle and Woodhall Spa attended the incident and used hydraulic cutting equipment to release the driver of the Suzuki.
Anyone with information about the incident or who saw either of the vehicles prior to the collision should call the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855, quoting incident 163 of August 3.
source: thisislincolnshire.co.uk
A 70-YEAR-OLD man has been airlifted to hospital after being involved in a head-on crash.
The unnamed pensioner is said to have "life-threatening" injuries after the blue Suzuki Swift he was driving collided with a white Ford transit van in a smash that left his car a crumpled mess of metal.
The driver, of Bucknall, near Woodhall Spa, was cut from the wreckage and taken to Lincoln County Hospital with "significant" chest, leg and pelvis injuries. He is currently on a ventilator, police said.
The driver of the van is not believed to have sustained serious injuries, but was also taken to Lincoln County Hospital for treatment.
The accident happened on the B1190, near Thimbleby Lakes – a stretch of road which has two sharp bends one after the other – between Thimbleby and Horsington, near Horncastle, just before 11.30am yesterday.
After the vehicles collided, the Suzuki ended up in a ditch. The van came to a stop across the road, with a damage to its passenger side.
Inspector Rob Gowler from Lincolnshire Police was at the scene.
He said: "At the moment it's not clear what caused the accident and we are carrying out tests and inquiries to answer that question.
"We would like a witness appeal to go out for a driver we believe was in the area. A lady with two teenage children turned up at some point around 11.30am in a silver Vauxhall Astra, which we believe was an old-style vehicle with 1999 V-plates, perhaps.
"We believe she stopped initially but was not at the scene when we arrived. We don't know what her involvement in the collision was at this time, but we would very much like for her to get in touch."
The road was closed for several hours while officers worked the scene and recovery crews moved the wreckage.
One person, who lives around the corner from where the accident happened, but asked not to be named, said: "It can be a tricky stretch of road to drive on with the tight bends around here."
Fire crews from Horncastle and Woodhall Spa attended the incident and used hydraulic cutting equipment to release the driver of the Suzuki.
Anyone with information about the incident or who saw either of the vehicles prior to the collision should call the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855, quoting incident 163 of August 3.
source: thisislincolnshire.co.uk
Salford plane crash boy volunteered for flight just before take-off
Manchester Personal Injury
Passenger Claims
The teenager on board the plane which crashed into Salford houses had volunteered for the flight just before take off.
Joel McNicholls, 19, suffered severe burns after the two-seater plane crashed in Peel Green, Eccles.
His family described how the former Air Cadet from Wythenshawe had always dreamed of being an RAF pilot. He is now in an induced coma.
Joel, of Maltby Road, is a trained pilot. He had started a new job with flight company Ravenair - which owned the two-seat Piper PA38 Tomahawk - just three days before the accident.
It is understood he had volunteered to join 59-year-old Ian Daglish, as a passenger.
Mr Daglish, a dad-of-two from Alderley Edge, died as a result of his injuries two days after Friday’s crash. The plane came down minutes after taking off from nearby City Airport, Barton.
Joel’s family said he had been obsessed with flying from an early age and dreamed of one day of joining the Air Force.
Jim McNicholls, 47, a trade union rep, said: "Every opportunity he gets to fly, he takes it.
"Flying is the be all and the end all for him. He joined the Air Cadets when he was 14 and just got a passion for it.
"The first thing he’ll say when he wakes up is ‘when can I get back in a plane?’"
Joel had just finished his A-Levels at Newall Green Sixth Form College.
He saw his job as a flying school co-ordinator with Ravenair as the ‘first foot on the ladder’, said his mum Julie.
"It was the dream job for him," she said. "He’s an extremely determined, clever lad – well-mannered and polite. For a lad from Wythenshawe to do what he’s done – we’re so proud of him."
Residents in the quiet cul-de-sac sprang into action after the crash. Householders used buckets of water in a bid to douse the flames.
Joel’s family praised the efforts of heroic neighbours who risked their lives to try and fight off the flames to save Joel and Mr Daglish. "If it wasn’t for them he wouldn’t be here now," said Julie, a bus driver.
"They gave him a fighting chance, getting water from anywhere they could. We can’t thank them enough."
An official investigation into the cause of the tragedy is expected to take several months.
Ravenair praised Joel and expressed sympathy for Mr Daglish’s family.
Jeff Nuttall, the firm’s managing director, said: "Joel is an excellent find for us showing lots of enthusiasm for aviation. All at Ravenair send our best wishes to Joel, his family and friends."
The company was fully co-operating with the investigation, he added. The aircraft has been taken to Farnborough, Hampshire, for specialist examination.
source: menmedia.co.uk
Passenger Claims
The teenager on board the plane which crashed into Salford houses had volunteered for the flight just before take off.
Joel McNicholls, 19, suffered severe burns after the two-seater plane crashed in Peel Green, Eccles.
His family described how the former Air Cadet from Wythenshawe had always dreamed of being an RAF pilot. He is now in an induced coma.
Joel, of Maltby Road, is a trained pilot. He had started a new job with flight company Ravenair - which owned the two-seat Piper PA38 Tomahawk - just three days before the accident.
It is understood he had volunteered to join 59-year-old Ian Daglish, as a passenger.
Mr Daglish, a dad-of-two from Alderley Edge, died as a result of his injuries two days after Friday’s crash. The plane came down minutes after taking off from nearby City Airport, Barton.
Joel’s family said he had been obsessed with flying from an early age and dreamed of one day of joining the Air Force.
Jim McNicholls, 47, a trade union rep, said: "Every opportunity he gets to fly, he takes it.
"Flying is the be all and the end all for him. He joined the Air Cadets when he was 14 and just got a passion for it.
"The first thing he’ll say when he wakes up is ‘when can I get back in a plane?’"
Joel had just finished his A-Levels at Newall Green Sixth Form College.
He saw his job as a flying school co-ordinator with Ravenair as the ‘first foot on the ladder’, said his mum Julie.
"It was the dream job for him," she said. "He’s an extremely determined, clever lad – well-mannered and polite. For a lad from Wythenshawe to do what he’s done – we’re so proud of him."
Residents in the quiet cul-de-sac sprang into action after the crash. Householders used buckets of water in a bid to douse the flames.
Joel’s family praised the efforts of heroic neighbours who risked their lives to try and fight off the flames to save Joel and Mr Daglish. "If it wasn’t for them he wouldn’t be here now," said Julie, a bus driver.
"They gave him a fighting chance, getting water from anywhere they could. We can’t thank them enough."
An official investigation into the cause of the tragedy is expected to take several months.
Ravenair praised Joel and expressed sympathy for Mr Daglish’s family.
Jeff Nuttall, the firm’s managing director, said: "Joel is an excellent find for us showing lots of enthusiasm for aviation. All at Ravenair send our best wishes to Joel, his family and friends."
The company was fully co-operating with the investigation, he added. The aircraft has been taken to Farnborough, Hampshire, for specialist examination.
source: menmedia.co.uk
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