Big crash on Kirkdale last night

[NatashaM]

We heard a car speeding, screech of brakes and huge bang, about half midnight last (Tuesday) night... not knowing where it had come from, we went outside to see what had happened - it was up the top half of Kirkdale, but seeing a crowd had already gathered thought we'd better leave them to it as there was nothing we could have done to help. Heard sirens later, but not many - any idea what had happened?

[Eagle]

Sorry cannot enlighten you and hope no one seriously injured.
Being time mentioned would imagine one of the offenders going over the speed limit .

Very sad.

[Robin Orton]

It looks as if a vehicle coming up Kirkdale swerved to the right across the opposite carriageway, crossed the patch of grass at the junction with Brickwood Close - you can see the tyre marks - and finished up in the back garden of the first house on the left hand side of Brickwood Close. The garden fence is more or less totally demolished. No sign of the vehicle itself when I passed this morning.

[NatashaM]

Just from the noise we could tell that a car was going much too fast, and certainly sounded like it lost control... going over grass and a garden fence sounds less lethal than smashing into a wall, I suppose. Small mercies... Haven't noticed all those speed bumps on the hill having much effect, though

[molusc]

It was actually a police car that crashed. From the skid marks it appears to have lost control on the roundabout and finished up in the garden of the house on Brickwood Close. 2 policemen from the car were walking around and seemed ok and there was no sign of anyone else being involved.

The crash was immediately preceded by a motorbike going very fast up Kirkdale, so the police must have been chasing someone.

Must have been pretty terrifying for whoever lives in that house!

[marymck]

I live further up Kirkdale and was woken at about that time by a very noisy, very fast motorbike. I think it sounded as if it was going up the hill. Presumably that was the same incident and the motorbike got away?

Brickwood Close is quite a way from the roundabout.

Do the skidmarks start before or after the speed cushions?

[molusc]

There are skid/scuff marks starting in front of the Behind The Boxes antique shop, going up the hill. They're more or less straight until they hit the speed bump, then they veer off to the right, mounting the kerb just before Brickwood Close and continuing across the grass.

There are also a pair of dead straight skidmarks in the same area where someone has skidded to a stop at the entrance to Fransfield Grove. Not sure whether these are from last night or previously.

This is pure conjecture but if both sets are from the same time, then it kind of looks like the police car may have swerved around another car which braked suddenly. There were a couple of stopped cars there last night. That's complete guesswork though.

[pip]

Newshopper Report

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/98863 ... ck_garden/

[JRobinson]

whilst I was walking back home from the station, last night, at about 10.15 maybe, there was a motorbike going very fast south down Mayow Road, it overtook a car just after the roundabout by Forest Hill school, and had to go the wrong side of the central island to do it, and accelerated down the hill on the wrong side of the road, which I was about to cross. It might have been the same motorcyclist mentioned above.

[caseyref]

This incident happened right outside where I live yesterday and I heard a motorcycle prior to the crash (but that may be a coincidence) then the large crash which sounded as if the police car over turned around 3 times by the sound of it and position the police car landed in as it was off the ground sitting in the bushes and on top of the fence.

I will try to upload a pic if I can find a way of uploading it, showing the position it was in.

The police car was a traffic unit which I heard one of the Police say was in pursuit of a vehicle on silent Blue Light pursuit.

Was chaotic after the crash with 3 fire engines attending - 1 rescue unit from Lewisham and 2 normal tenders from Forest Hill, 2 paramedic cars, 3 Ambulances, the HeliMedics who drove their night doctors car from Whitechapel London Air Ambulance, and around 4/5 traffic police units and around 4 local units.

Hopefully the one police officer who was most injured is ok as he was driven away long after the incident occurred secured to a stretcher (hopefully a precaution) and taken to hospital.

As mentioned the speed bumps do NOTHING on this stretch of road and are more a nuisance on the area than helpful as this is the 2nd crash in recent years as a few years ago joyriders crashed into where I live and police were sympathetic but could do no more as the joyriders had made their escape.

The joyriders crashed after turning the roundabout and bouncing off the curb running along costcutter down to the corner of Fransfield Grove and couldn't control the car and yet again the police (by the looks of the skid marks) did the same and I believe that the speed bump helped the officers lose control - but thats my theory!

I hope that we find out what happened with this crash and it helps locals to make the roundabout junction a lot safer!

[maestro]

Story here about the aftermath of this accident. Just to provide some balance, I do hope the officers involved are recovering, as the article showed no concern whatsoever for them.

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/top_s ... _World_War_/

[bensonby]

do hope the officers involved are recovering, as the article showed no concern whatsoever for them.

Par for the course to be honest. In all the comment about the shooting in Elsinore Road and at the subsequent community meeting there was no mention or concern from anyone for the officers that were chased down the road by the suspect with the weapon.

[michael]

do hope the officers involved are recovering, as the article showed no concern whatsoever for them.

Par for the course to be honest. In all the comment about the shooting in Elsinore Road and at the subsequent community meeting there was no mention or concern from anyone for the officers that were chased down the road by the suspect with the weapon.

I don't feel the comparison to Elsinore Road is appropriate. From the earliest reports of that incident we heard that

Officers were sent to the scene but were threatened with the "large bladed weapon" when they attempted to approach the man. They pulled back and called for firearms units, who were approached and threatened with the weapon by the man in nearby Stanstead Road.

Although officers may have been threatened it was clear that none were harmed.

In the case of the Kirkdale crash, earlier reports from the News Shopper were that:

A spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service said all three patients were fully conscious and had only minor injuries. They were taken to Lewisham Hospital for treatment.

But I think it is still reasonable for Maestro and others to have concern for the officers with 'minor injuries'.

The article about the war flashbacks and lack of rapid response tea provision by the police either tells us the story of somebody who is seriously traumatised by an incident that would surprise all of us, or a rather sensationalist version of events reported in a local paper (it has been suggested previously on this forum that some newspapers are not always the perfect source of balanced and trustworthy coverage). I suspect the truth is somewhere between the two.

[bensonby]

I don't know about you but I'd consider being chased down the road with "a large bladed weapon" to be rather traumatic. But maybe I'm not of as robust constitution as some...

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Eagle]

My sympathy is with the gentlemen of the law who are trying to protect the law abiding population.


What is the opinion of readers as to the homeowner in Leicestershire who has been arrested for shooting at criminal invaders.
Again similar to poor old Tony Martin , they have been burgled NINE times before. They 4 criminals were all younger. What else was the owner to do.
To put it blankly THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE.
Trust the Police drop the charges soonest.

[michael]

I don't know about you but I'd consider being chased down the road with "a large bladed weapon" to be rather traumatic. But maybe I'm not of as robust constitution as some...

Possibly it was traumatic, although I notice that the report of the incident did not say the officers were 'chased down the road', they 'pulled back' after being threatened. Perhaps you know more about the exact circumstances, but I believe the officers involved would have been trained in how to deal with such an incident and could have received appropriate counselling after the incident to help them through the trauma of being threatened and watching a man shot repeatedly in the street by their fellow officers.

I have a great deal of respect for police officers who are the front line when dealing with some very difficult situations, but I simply don't think you can compare the trauma involved in responding to a call from residents of Elsinore Road, with a car crashing through your garden fence, or being involved in a car accident where your car went through somebody's garden fence.

I'm sure Eagle would have liked the 76 year old lady to have shot at the invaders who drove into her garden on Kirkdale. To put it blankly THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE.

[marymck]

I don't think I can over emphasise how deeply traumatic events can affect the elderly. And memories of the horrors of the Blitz can be revived very easily. My own grandmother's stomach used to turn over at the sound of air raid sirens on the TV.

Having sympathy for one person's trauma doesn't diminish the sympathy we feel for another person's trauma. I feel badly for the police officers involved in the accident, but I also feel deep sympathy for the elderly lady. Just because someone doesn't have a physically noticeable injury does not mean they are not injured. Shock can kill.

[Eagle]

Oh Michael what a predictable extreme Liberal comment.

I notice you have not commented on the Leicestershire incident. How many times have you been broken into?
What are people who live in isolated properties to do.
I trust the new Justice Secretary will bring some order to this matter.

[michael]

Oh Michael what a predictable extreme Liberal comment.

Many thanks for the compliment and let me say how predictable it is that on a discussion about a local traffic accident you try to open up a discussion about the benefits of vigilantism and the killing of criminal suspects.

[Eagle]

Glad I could assist.

Let us hope you are not a victim of criminal burglary.

I was simply adding my support to the argument that as usual The Police were not given a fair press.They deserve our full support.