Family has miraculous escape after lorry tips on to their car on A64 near York (From York Press)

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Family has miraculous escape after lorry tips on to their car on A64 near York

8:30am Monday 12th October 2009 in News Photograph of the Author By Richard Harris

The lorry which overturned on to a Land Rover Freelander.

A FAMILY had a miraculous escape after a fully-laden articulated lorry tipped over on to their Land Rover on the A64 near York.

The accident happened at 3.30pm on Saturday in the Leeds-bound lanes of the Hopgrove roundabout.

Sgt Graham Carroll, of North Yorkshire Police, said the vehicles had been travelling in adjacent lanes when the lorry appeared to go out of control, hit the family’s Land Rover Freelander and rolled on top of it, crushing the driver’s side.

The Land Rover was towing a trailer with a Laguna estate on it which was also crushed.

Sgt Carroll said it was miraculous the family had not suffered serious injuries or even being killed.

He said: “I think the people in the car have been extremely fortunate.

“I’ve seen vehicles with less damage than that where people have lost their lives.” Upon arrival, firefighters and the police found the Land Rover family were out of their vehicle, but the driver of the lorry, which was transporting biomass to be burned at a power station, was trapped in his cab.

Fire crews from York and Tadcaster freed him using cutting equipment.

He was believed to have suffered head and arm injuries, and was placed on a spinal board as a precaution.

He was taken to York Hospital but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The family was also taken to York Hospital for a check up.

The accident caused long tailbacks for thousands of motorists heading west-bound on the A64.

The Leeds-bound lanes of the road at the roundabout were closed while the vehicles were recovered meaning traffic was diverted on to the A1237 or through the city centre, causing long tailbacks in Malton Road.

Comments(11)

Shouter says...
10:38am Mon 12 Oct 09

What a miracle the family in the Land Rover was unhurt. The poor lorry driver came off worst and we wish him a speedy recovery. Saw the aftermath of the accident on Saturday and it was horrendous. Looks like the lorry failed to negotiate the sharp right hand bend around the roundabout - there are skid marks at that point from the right hand lane across the left hand one and lorry was tipped on its left hand side across the crash barrier. This first accident happening so soon after the roundabout was completed will, we fear, be only one of many. It is now far more dangerous than it was before - just look at all the skid marks where the traffic lights have changed to red without any warning. The slip lanes on the roundabout to A64 westbound are particularly nasty, having several sharp bends in them which are not lorry friendly. All in all it was a complete and utter waste of money. It does nothing for the long tailbacks both ways on the A64 and in fact has made them far worse. It would have been better and safer to have spent the money on dualling the road with a flyover at the Hopgrove.