12:40am Saturday 26th September 2009
TODAY the Adver can reveal the three Swindon roads that have seen the most car smashes attended by paramedics.
Paramedics went to more road accidents on Great Western Way, Queens Drive and Cricklade Road than any other Swindon Council operated roads over the last three years.
The Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) attended 46 collisions on Great Western Way, 45 on Queens Drive and 43 on Cricklade Road from September 2006 until the end of last month.
Ambulance crews attended another 36 incidents on Marlborough Road over the same period.
GWAS statistics showed paramedics have attended a total of 1,811 collisions in Swindon over the last three years.
Ambulance staff took 1,042 people to hospital during the accidents, with more than 90 per cent of patients suffering serious but non life-threatening injuries.
Swindon ambulance station manager Steve Arnold called for drivers to be more careful and reduce their speed.
He said: “It is often down to speed. I would appeal to people to consider how their actions can impact on others. It is better to arrive late than not at all.
“Accidents are traumatic even if there are no injuries – it can lead to prosecution and leave your vehicle damaged.”
The ambulance service also attended 25 collisions on Dorcan Way and 24 on Drove Road from September 2006 until the end of last month.
Since 2004, 30 people have lost their lives on Swindon roads operated by Swindon Council.
Swindon paramedics attended more than 160 incidents on the M4 over the same period, but Mr Arnold said the motorway was not always as risky as people expect.
“The public perception is that the M4 is a dangerous road and causes a lot of work but relatively speaking it doesn’t,” he said.
“Sometimes the incidents will be more tragic if they involve a number of vehicles but there are a great number of incidents on the motorway that involve minor injuries.
“With the advent of the mobile phone our work load has gone through the roof.”
He added: “The Great Western Way has a lot of traffic, particularly during rush hour with people travelling far too fast.” Paramedics have attended about 100 accidents on the A419 during the last three years, but Mr Arnold was not surprised by the number, saying it is a fast moving route and easy to drive.
He said: “It passes some built up urban areas so there is a lot of traffic joining and leaving.”
Paramedics attended 569 incidents in Swindon from September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007, 614 from September 1, 2007 until August 31 last year and 628 from September 1, 2008 to the end of last month.
PARAMEDICS have attended the following roads on a number of occasions in the past three years.
Road – Number of times paramedics attended: A419 (area covered by Swindon paramedics) – 100 A420 (area covered by Swindon paramedics) – 20 Bridge End Road – 10 Bruce Street Bridges – 8 Cricklade Road – 44 Dorcan Way – 25 Drakes Way – 23 Drove Road – 24 Great Western Way – 46 Greenbridge Road – 21 Kingshill and Wootton Bassett Road – 27 M4 (area covered by Swindon paramedics) – 160 Magic Roundabout – 12 Manchester Road – 13 Marlborough Road – 37 Oxford Road – 21 Queens Drive – 45 Rodbourne Road – 12 County Road – 14
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