Freckleton'saccident scene has fatal record

The site of a serious road accident in Freckleton yesterday has an unenviable record for major crashes and was even the subject of a successful campaign to lower the speed limit.

In yesterday’s crash, a 90 year old cyclist from Lostock Hall was taken to Royal Preston Hospital for treatment after he was in a collision with a Skoda at the junction with Preston New Road and Lower Lane.

He remains in a critical condition.

There was so much concern over this busy stretch of road that Fylde MP Mark Menzies launched a successful campaign to get the speed reduced from 70 mph to 50mph in 2012, following a string of residents’ letters.

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A number of the of the accidents on Preston New Road, also known as the Freckleton Bypass, have proved fatal.

Doreen Paton, 74, was killed when she crossed the road near Greenfield Park in 2003.

Cyclist Daniel Coulter, 20, from Freckleton, died in June 2004 while crossing the road - having survived a similar accident at the same spot two years earlier.

In 2005, Robert Banks, 84, from Freckleton, and Elizabeth Gardner, 73, from Fulwood, Preston, were killed in a car accident at the junction of Lower Lane.

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Hazel Lilley, 55, from Kirkham, died in a car crash close to Clifton Business Park.

Despite the speed reduction, it continues to pose problems.

In April last year another cyclist, Jonathan Lee, 36, was killed in a collision with a van.

Residents say that the relatively fast traffic, despite the speed reduction, and the dual carriageway lay-out causes particular problems when vehicles try to negotiate junctions.

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