Road Collision in St Catherine’s Prompts Reaction From Village Association Chairman

Published on: 29 May, 2013
Updated on: 31 May, 2013

The driver and occupant of the narrowly missed cottage both make phone calls to report the accident

The driver (right) and occupant of the narrowly missed cottage both make phone calls to report the incident.

Another collision on the Portsmouth Road in St Catherine’s, south-west Guildford, on Bank Holiday Monday (May 27) has provoked an exasperated reaction from Lorimer Burn, chairman of the St Catherine’s Village Association.

When he heard of the incident he said: “Oh dear, not another! Monday afternoon was a glorious day, weather-wise, so this time, no excuses can be offered regarding wet or icy conditions, not that these justify a driver being unable to drive safely along a stretch of road.

The full shambles revealed.

“Most of us drive and we so easily forget that we are in charge of a potentially lethal weapon. The appropriate speed for all circumstances is fundamental to safe driving. We don’t know, factually, at what speed this car was being driven but the driver was obviously unable to negotiate the bend at the bottom of the hill safely.”

The car, believed to be a Mazda sports car, travelling south out of Guildford, mounted the pavement by a traffic island, removed the cover of a communications junction box before crashing into a picket fence less than two metres from the front wall of cottages which face the road.

The sports car was brought to a halt by the entrance to Ferry Lane. The damage to the rear nearside wheel is evident.

During the incident the rear nearside wheel was so damaged that the car was made undriveable. The driver brought the car to a halt by the entrance to Ferry Lane and was seen to be talking to an occupant of the cottage to which the damaged fence belongs.

Over recent years there have been five or six collisions within yards of this spot, at least two of which are known to have damaged the same fence.

This angle shows how close the car came to colliding with the front walls of the cottages. Fortunately, no one was on the well used stretch of pavement at the time.

Mr Burn said: “Every local resident will testify to being concerned about cars travelling along this difficult stretch of road at speeds well over 30pmh every day. About six weeks ago, the police carried out speed monitoring on this stretch and found very few cars exceeding 30mph. But these checks were done during the busy rush hour where there is less opportunity for drivers to speed. It is at other, quieter times of the day and night that this behaviour is more evident.

“We do look forward to more speed checks being done at quieter times when there will be an opportunity to apprehend some of these thoughtless and dangerous drivers.

“It is quite remarkable that no one has yet been killed or injured on this stretch of road, either the occupants of a car, or an innocent pedestrian. What is certain, is that as soon as there is a serious accident causing death or injury, more attention will be given to driver behaviour through St Catherine’s, and we will all be a little safer.”

Responses to Road Collision in St Catherine’s Prompts Reaction From Village Association Chairman

John Schluter Reply

May 29, 2013 at 9:40 pm

If only the police were to carry out speed checks either early in the morning, late at night or better still all the time then the full picture of total disregard for the 30 mph limit would become apparent.

I speak from experience having had several cars saying ‘hello’ to my house, via the railings, over the years.

Please, please, please local councillors, Surrey Highways and Surrey Police respond to this and let us know what you will do to prevent this happening again, before someone is killed.
Sarah Sullivan Reply

May 30, 2013 at 2:00 pm

Would it not be possible for the village to set up a community speed watch. As St Catherines has such a strong community spirit it must surely be possible to put together a group. In the village of Hascombe, a like minded group of trained volunteers regularily act as a huge deterrent to speeding motorists.