Falling lamp-post just misses family after Shrewsbury A5 crash
A mother and her two young children had a narrow escape on the A5 near Shrewsbury when a speeding car hit a lamppost causing it to topple to the ground just inches from their bonnet.
The near miss happened on Saturday afternoon when the road was packed with cars.
Witness Rob Hurley was driving his car along the road on his way to Tesco with his parter Elaine Gerard when he saw a car approaching at speed in his rear view mirror.
He quickly manoeuvred out of the way and watched it speed past a red light, hitting a Volkswagen before careering across the carriageway and coming to rest at the roadside.
Mr Hurley looked on in horror as he saw the lamp post fall to the ground, narrowly missing two cars – one of which contained a woman and two children, aged five and two.
Mr Hurley, 57, from Shifnal, said: “I was driving along the A5 approaching the roundabout where it joins the A49 at Preston island.
“I wanted to turn right. All of a sudden a car came speeding past me at about 60mph.
“I thought he was in quite a rush and I said to Elaine, ‘I hope he is going to stop at the lights’. But instead he ploughed in to another car.
“He then pulled over to the side of the road. At the same time Elaine said to me that the lamp post was falling over. It came crashing down across the queue of traffic at the red lights.
“We drove around the roundabout and pulled over to give our details to the fire brigade.
“We went across to another car and saw there was a mother and her two children inside. She was in shock. We got the children out and took them to the side of the road.
“The lamp post had fallen in the gap between two cars, narrowly missing them. It was a very lucky escape.
“The driver of the car which had been going so fast was in a state of shock and kept saying that his brakes had failed. He was elderly and the woman in his car, who I guess was his wife, started crying.
“It could all have ended so differently. It was amazing no one was hurt.”
Kieren Bodill, spokesman for West Mercia Police said: “West Mercia Police were called at around 2.35pm on Saturday, to reports of a road traffic collision at the junction of the A5 and A49 in Shrewsbury.
“The incident involved a grey Peugeot and a blue Volkswagen that had been in collision.
“Following the collision, the Volkswagen had collided with a lamp post.
“This was a damage only collision and no injuries reported.”
“The road was blocked whilst emergency services and the highways agency attended the scene.”
