ACCIDENT

Anyone know what happened on Beech Hill Avenue tonight? I left work at 4.30 as usual and didn’t get home till 5.35 on a 20 minute run. Lots of cars were turning round to go back the other way and in the distance I could see blue lights flashing. There was a fire truck and Police blocking the road and we were all bumper to bumper until we could all divert off to a narrow road with cars parked on both sides and which, eventually, led us to Woodhouse Lane/Drive. It was an absolute nightmare and must have been serious, but thankfully, all drivers were polite and patient, and allowed other vehicles to join the queue where they could.

So glad to get home as I was dying for me tea and desperate for a wee.

Maybe Momac knows something?

Hope so, Tonker. Whatever had happened couldn't have been good. The fire engine zoomed past us all halfway up Beech Hill Avenue. Didn't see an ambulance there though, so it just might have been a bad collision. Couldn't see, and had to concentrate on the road to do any rubber-necking.

Thing is, the traffic behind me must have easily stretched back halfway to Standish, and once on Scot Lane, the tailback was just as bad going toward Standish.

Hope nobody was badly injured, or worse.

Anyroadup, you said you'd not been to Wigan in 16 years?
Clearly, you have, because you work there!

I said I hadn't been into Wigan in 16 years. Stop twisting me words.

Beech Hill/Springfield isn't IN Wigan. It's on the outskirts!

I wish there was a pulling out tongue smiley on here!

I could see it from my house it looked like a car going up Beech Hill Avenue had either been hit or turned, for some reason, into a car coming down Beech Hill Avenue There was a small mini bus in front which had stopped and a school bus coming up Beech Hill Avenue which was stopped. I don't think there was anyone on it? and I don't think it was involved in the accident? There was an ambulance parked at the side of the bus. Which was about 40 yards lower down than where the "accident" appeared to have happened It's all clear now, but I can see a white car on the grass verge .No doubt the story will appear in tomorrows paper?

Admin: Thank you so much for that information. The ambulance must have been further down from my line of sight. Please let us know the outcome as I don't get newspapers.

I sort of assumed it was a road traffic collision but, again, out of my line of sight.

There was just one idiot coming out of the road we had to divert into. A big black transit type van and, despite the chaos, he decided he wanted to turn left anyway. A Police Officer approached him, obviously explained to him the error of his ways, then the van had to turn round in a very tight space and disappeared somewhere.

Ah well. There's always one.

mollie m,

The problem now is that there is more than one, especially nearly every day on the local motorways!

I live on the Avenue as you’ve probably guessed and everyday there are ambulances..police cars..fire engines flying passed..it’s constant so you can become so used to it that after a while..no years…it’s ceases to be anything out of the ordinary…plus I pull my window blind down early evening because the backlog of traffic just sit and stare in your window (I’ve done it myself)
My son called at the time and asked me if I knew there’d been an accident,he didn’t know ,he lives near Kenyon Rd…anyway I saw the lights flashing and just hope that if anybody was hurt it wasn’t serious…plus there’s nothing in Wigan Todays news.

I live on the Avenue as you’ve probably guessed and everyday there are ambulances..police cars..fire engines flying passed..it’s constant so you can become so used to it that after a while..no years…it’s ceases to be anything out of the ordinary…plus I pull my window blind down early evening because the backlog of traffic just sit and stare in your window (I’ve done it myself)
My son called at the time and asked me if I knew there’d been an accident,he didn’t know ,he lives near Kenyon Rd…anyway I saw the lights flashing and just hope that if anybody was hurt it wasn’t serious…plus there’s nothing in Wigan Todays news.

According to Wigan today it was a crash between two cars and a van with one man taken to hospital. Hope he's ok .

The white car that was on the grass verge this morning has now been removed. I bet the traffic coming down Spencer Road was blocked up to Standish from the north and and Tescos from the south?? As the road was closed for a few hours.

Momac and Admin, thanks for your replies. I did pinch a little minute to have a look on Wigan Today at work, but it only gave a sketchy explanation.

Owd Codger:

I know what that road is like as I've had cars coming out of side streets when I've been virtually on top of them, so I'm not surprised at the number of collisions that take place everywhere. Driving these days can be terrifying.

Momac: It's been a very long time since I lived on a main road, and I suppose that's the downside of doing so, so I don't blame you for closing your blinds and shutting out the rest of the world with folk gawping through your windows when stuck in traffic.

Admin:

Thanks again. As it turns out, traffic wasn't backed up to Standish. My boss lives in Charnock Richard and he branches off down Chorley Road at the Boar's Head and he saw no unusual traffic queues.

There was a fire truck mmmmmm correction, I only saw a Fire Engine, and the delivery van might have been a stranger to this part of the country.

I think it will have happened where Beech Hill Lane crosses Beech Hill Avenue, traffic queueing, going down towards the traffic lights at the Scot Lane junction, leave a gap in the traffic queue at the junction with Beech Hill Lane, so that traffic can drive across Beech Hill Avenue and carry on into the estate along Beech Hill Lane, or turn right from Beech Hill Lane into Beech Hill Avenue, and the vehicle driver doesn't check to see if there is any traffic coming up Beech Hill Avenue from the traffic lights, and then it's bump time

Tommy, that's exactly where it happened, about 50 yards down from the hatched area. as you say. That's where the big black van was coming out of to turn left to go down to the traffic lights at the bottom of Beech Hill Avenue, and that's where we had to divert through. It can be tricky there at times if drivers sit their cars in that hatched area instead of leaving a gap like they're supposed to.

If all traffic lights worked on a 1-2-3-4 system like the lights at Central Park, you not have vehicles facing each other and not have as many accidents at traffic light junctions!

If drivers obeyed the rules, we would never have any accidents, except for when folk drop dead at the wheel and crash into someone else.

Big Harold rules of any kind do not apply to some people

Owd Codger, this accident didn’t happen at the lights. This happened a good way before the lights were even in sight.

Who said anything about a delivery van? I know many people don’t obey the rules of the road, but even if they did, it doesn’t mean to say there wouldn’t still be accidents, because they’re accidents, not on purposes. Anything can happen when driving, like just a moment’s hesitation; a thoughtless second; something going wrong with the vehicle; a phone ringing causing distraction; driver error or a medical problem. From what I can gather, one car swerved from one side of the road hitting a car on the other side. Maybe the steering went on the first car; maybe he was braking hard for some reason and turned the car over; maybe the driver did have a medical problem. Maybe, maybe. We don’t know the reason, so let’s not assume someone was actually at fault. One driver was taken by ambulance to hospital, but no serious injuries, thank goodness.