Van driver avoids serious injury in A64 crash

9:30am Friday 18th July 2008

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FIREFIGHTERS said the driver of a van which was “mangled” after hitting a tree beside the A64 was “very lucky indeed” to escape with his life.

The accident happened half-a-mile from the Aagrah Restaurant, near Tadcaster, on the eastbound carriageway of the ring road just after 2pm yesterday, involving an Iveco Ford van.

Two doctors happened to be following the vehicle and were on hand to treat the casualty until paramedics and fire crews arrived.

A spokesman for York Police said the driver was in his 20s and from the Middleton area of Leeds. “He came off the road and hit a tree.

“The driver was the only occupant and was out of the vehicle by the time police got there. We are investigating the cause of the accident.”

He said the driver’s injuries were “not considered to be serious at the time”.

Two fire crews from Tadcaster attended along with the heavy rescue unit which was not needed on arrival.

Red Watch manager Bob Hoskins, who described the driver as “very shaken”, said: “The vehicle left the road and collided with a tree on the hard shoulder.

“It caused significant damage to the vehicle which hit the tree sideways on. It mangled the front cab and the vehicle was a total write-off. The male occupant seems to have been thrown clear and received treatment at the scene by the fire service and paramedics, and was taken to hospital.”

Fire crews made the vehicle safe and placed absorbent material around the van to soak up fuel spillages. Plans were later made to recover the vehicle from the ditch.

“We assisted the paramedics and put the man on a spine board which is how we transfer a patient when they have been in an accident until they have been checked,” he said.

He said it appeared the driver had been “very lucky” to escape serious injury considering the extensive damage to the vehicle.

Luck was also on the victim’s side, he added, because two doctors, including one from Tadcaster, happened to be following in separate vehicles.

They were on the scene until paramedics arrived.

A witness who saw the van said it bore the name of a Leeds-based tyre maintenance company.

An Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “A van was in a ditch. One emergency service crew attended and the patient was taken to York Hospital.”

She said his condition was not thought to be life-threatening.

Witnesses to the crash are urged to phone PC 508 Wilkinson on 0845 6060247.