Nasty crash on the A428 this afternoon.
Discussion
Just a quick post with a word of warning for anybody in the area heading out this evening to expect some big delays. There was a very bad, now unfortunately confirmed fatal RTC involving a car and a lorry on the A428 between Caxton and Croxton this afternoon, unfortunately i witnessed it... 
I still feel shook up and numb now to be honest, i've never seen another collision as bad as this one. RIP to the poor driver of the car. Feel really sorry for the truck driver too, what a way to end the day...
Take care out there folks.
I still feel shook up and numb now to be honest, i've never seen another collision as bad as this one. RIP to the poor driver of the car. Feel really sorry for the truck driver too, what a way to end the day...
Take care out there folks.
Edited by Forthright MC on Thursday 12th January 17:02
mickk said:
Not a n ice thing to witness.
Heard the reports about traffic delays on the radio. What happened?
the impact tore the engine clean out of the car (Thats the most vivid memory for me) which then barrel rolled into the ditch. It was so mangled i couldn't even tell you what kind of car it was.
I've never ever dialled 999 so fast! I really did hope someone could be rescued, but it looked really bad. I think the lorry driver looked in the car, but he came back up the road pretty quick which kind of said it all really...
Cambridge Evening News are running a story, i imagine the emergency services will stay there into the night. - http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Serious-crash...
Sorry to hear that James - I've never witnessed an accident and hope to god I never have to. Daft question as I'm sure you did but you gave a full account to the police at the scene? Have yourself a stiff whisky tonight and thank your lucky stars you were'nt a few feet further forwards/back and in the place of the truck - respect obviously to the victim but at least you're OK.
Zippee said:
Sorry to hear that James - I've never witnessed an accident and hope to god I never have to. Daft question as I'm sure you did but you gave a full account to the police at the scene? Have yourself a stiff whisky tonight and thank your lucky stars you were'nt a few feet further forwards/back and in the place of the truck - respect obviously to the victim but at least you're OK.
Cheers Tony, yeah it was quite shocking to say the least! Although i feel a little better now the sheer sense of disbelief is still there though... We were waved on to pass by before the police and fire crews arrived thankfully, although i did give a very thorough breakdown of the situation to the emergency control operator though. I would have given an account from my perspective if asked if we weren't able to move off in time though.
I'm intending on having an extra pint in town tomorrow evening when i go out to make up for not having a tipple tonight! Boy i could do with it!...
We were very lucky indeed, thankfully no shrapnel or wreckage blew back from the impact and hit our car either (And there was plenty of it including the cars engine which was torn out upon impact and then caught fire!...) thats one of many things about the incident i've been thinking about this evening funnily enough!
Edited by Forthright MC on Thursday 12th January 23:44
I know it's not something you will want to think about, but I would recommend that you write down now everything that you can remember.
I went through something similar 15 odd years ago, I imagine that the police will want to speak to you to get your version of events, something that may seem trivial now could well be important but you may forget about it over the next few weeks.
I went through something similar 15 odd years ago, I imagine that the police will want to speak to you to get your version of events, something that may seem trivial now could well be important but you may forget about it over the next few weeks.
I was about to say similar myself - James who waved you on? If the police had been there they'd have wanted to speak with you about what you saw. In fact the Hunts Post article says they're appealing for witnesses, I know it won't be easy but you need to speak with them about what you saw especially since it was a fatal and a lorry driver could potentially be wrongly blamed (worst case I know but could happen).
http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/update...
http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/update...
Very sad to say I knew the lady involved - my parents are good friends with her husband
Hopefully the 999 operator will have passed your account on, but it might be worth ringing the Police again and asking to ensure a witness account gets through to the right people. Your information might be key to finding out what happened.
Hopefully the 999 operator will have passed your account on, but it might be worth ringing the Police again and asking to ensure a witness account gets through to the right people. Your information might be key to finding out what happened.
Thanks guys. I can remeber it all still pretty clearly so we're going to get in contact with the road police unit ASAP 
(My mum and gran, who were in the front of our car saw it all too)
I think it might have been a driver of an HGV who was behind the car that waved us on (a load of cars and trucks went past the scene who probably also saw it happen too although some did appear to stop for longer) I guess if there were any kids or old folks, like my gran, in any of the other cars on the road at the time, it was probebly better for their vehicles be moved on. It was extremely distressing to say the least...
I've still had the odd flashback today, but on the whole i feel a bit better. Still feel overwhelmingly sorry for the victim, her family and the truck driver also.
(My mum and gran, who were in the front of our car saw it all too)I think it might have been a driver of an HGV who was behind the car that waved us on (a load of cars and trucks went past the scene who probably also saw it happen too although some did appear to stop for longer) I guess if there were any kids or old folks, like my gran, in any of the other cars on the road at the time, it was probebly better for their vehicles be moved on. It was extremely distressing to say the least...
I've still had the odd flashback today, but on the whole i feel a bit better. Still feel overwhelmingly sorry for the victim, her family and the truck driver also.
Edited by Forthright MC on Friday 13th January 17:38
I don't mean to sound patronising but I guess you will still be in shock. When I witnessed a fatal it took a long time (months) for it to sink in and to this day it still affects me (I can't watch a film if there is a car on fire with people in it).
Do your best for the victim and get in touch with the police.
Do your best for the victim and get in touch with the police.
nellyleelephant said:
I don't mean to sound patronising but I guess you will still be in shock. When I witnessed a fatal it took a long time (months) for it to sink in and to this day it still affects me (I can't watch a film if there is a car on fire with people in it).
Do your best for the victim and get in touch with the police.
Yeah i think i still am a bit TBH. Its like stress/adrenaline/tension all kind of rolled into one! A mate of mine who is a fireman said thats all perfectly normal afterwards though, the realisation life can all change with the blink of an eye... Do your best for the victim and get in touch with the police.
We just rang the witness number as stated on the Hunts Post page (101) and the operator said that the department we wanted shuts at half past 5 IIRC! :/
Was asked to stay on the line to give our details to someone else only to be kept on hold for 10 mins (Friday night...) We will ring again first thing in the morning or visit the local station perhaps and speak to someone there.
Forthright MC said:
nellyleelephant said:
I don't mean to sound patronising but I guess you will still be in shock. When I witnessed a fatal it took a long time (months) for it to sink in and to this day it still affects me (I can't watch a film if there is a car on fire with people in it).
Do your best for the victim and get in touch with the police.
Yeah i think i still am a bit TBH. Its like stress/adrenaline/tension all kind of rolled into one! A mate of mine who is a fireman said thats all perfectly normal afterwards though, the realisation life can all change with the blink of an eye... Do your best for the victim and get in touch with the police.
We just rang the witness number as stated on the Hunts Post page (101) and the operator said that the department we wanted shuts at half past 5 IIRC! :/
Was asked to stay on the line to give our details to someone else only to be kept on hold for 10 mins (Friday night...) We will ring again first thing in the morning or visit the local station perhaps and speak to someone there.
A quick update. We got in contact with the Traffic Division this morning and one of their inspectors is coming round tomorrow afternoon to hear our recollection of the events. Apparently myself and my folks are the only people who witnessed the incident who have got in touch with them as of yet!...
Kind of hoping that speaking about it will relieve some of the tension i can still feel in relation to it all, kind of like having a massive weight lifted off my shoulders i suppose.
Kind of hoping that speaking about it will relieve some of the tension i can still feel in relation to it all, kind of like having a massive weight lifted off my shoulders i suppose.
nellyleelephant said:
I hope it goes well tomorrow. If it's anything like I had you'll go through everything that happened in order, so get ready to go over all of it again.
Cheers, yes thats exactly what happened, details about the position of our car on the road and weather conditions etc mainly. The officer that came round was spot on i must say, a very nice bloke who made time for everything.
Apparently there are only 6 specialist officers who deal with fatal road collisions in the whole of Cambridgeshire and theres only usually two working at any one time, hence further explaining the problems contacting their dept the other evening
At the moment it looks as if the case will be dealt with at the coroners court. Shouldn't be for months though apparently.
It did help recounting it all and talking it through again though in a strange way i must say, still do feel a bit raw though.
Even just coming across an accident is bad enough, but to witness a fatal, i can imagine would be really traumatic!... I have so much respect for police/amb/fire.
I left the fire service 10 years ago, and even to this day i can visulize one particular accident Nr Bicester, and I dont think it will ever leave my memory, can even remember the weather, the feeling of dealing with the incident, have never spoken about it.. it is very sad for everybody involved.
Well done on contacting the police, it will be greatly appriciated.
I left the fire service 10 years ago, and even to this day i can visulize one particular accident Nr Bicester, and I dont think it will ever leave my memory, can even remember the weather, the feeling of dealing with the incident, have never spoken about it.. it is very sad for everybody involved.
Well done on contacting the police, it will be greatly appriciated.
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