125 County Durham motorbike accidents in past three years
A County Durham biker relives his horrific smash last year, as figures show our regions roads are claiming more victims.
As it's revealed our region's older bikers are more likely to die in a crash - one rider tells us he's lucky to be alive.
Dick Allacker, from Pittington, crashed into a car at 40mph last year on the A167 at Thinford roundabout, near Spennymoor, on August 12 last year.
Both vehicles burst into flames and the car driver and Mr Allaker were carried away from the burning wreckage to safety.
The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) flew the injured motorcyclist to James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, where he arrived in a critical condition.
The 53-year-old suffered two badly broken legs, a shattered pelvis, a broken back, broken arm, fractured ribs, nerve damage and internal injuries. He’s still learning to walk without aids. Dick said:
“After I’d gone over the top of the car I could actually smell the burning; I could hear the road cracking with the heat. It was like a scene out of a Hollywood movie just over my shoulder.
“At the time you don’t realise that you’re as badly hurt as you are, at the time the only pain I felt was trying to catch my breath.
“If I hadn’t of got into major trauma in the time that it was, I wouldn’t be here today.”
It’s as Durham Police tell us they’ve dealt with 13 fatal and 125 Serious accidents involving a motorcycle which has resulted in 138 KSI (killed or seriously injured) casualties in their force area.
Paul Watson, from Road Safety GB, says many victims are in their forties and known as ‘Born-again bikers’. He explains that motorbikes have got faster and many bikers’ reaction times have got slower. He said:
“It is a particular demographic that we’re concerned about but raising awareness like this, using signs on some of our country roads saying ‘Think Bike’, it all contributes towards reducing casualties across the region.
“One fatality, one injury, it’s one injury too many. We’ve got some very attractive roads for bikers with us being predominately a rural county. First and foremost, I think we’ve all got to respect the roads but most importantly if we look out for each other we should see those collision numbers reducing.”
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