ONGAR: Crash creates misery for motorists

3:46pm Thursday 3rd July 2008

A CRASH that left a transit van sprawled on its side led to tailbacks and hours of delays for motorists.

A white ford BT transit van, and white Iveco tipping lorry were involved in a collision on the A414 between Ongar and North Weald at the crossroads with Blake Hall Road yesterday (July 2) at 2pm.

The van ended up a number of metres down the road on its side although the occupant, believed to be a man in his 40s, managed to free himself without assistance before being taken by ambulance to Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Harlow, where he was treated for neck pain, and cuts caused by broken glass.

The lorry driver was checked over by paramedics at the scene but was uninjured.

Eyewitness Joe Piscino was one of many motorists delayed by the accident which caused long tailbacks in both directions.

He told The Guardian: "When I saw it from up there I thought it looked like the van had come off the back of the lorry. The driver wasn't that badly injured- just shocked more than anything. He climbed out the transit door. You could see the bloke was all right instantly.

"I've been waiting about an hour. I'm a lorry driver and I'm not going to get my load done now. I'm going to lose my bonus, and it's not my fault there was an accident."

Commenting on the condition of the van driver, a spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: "He was very, very lucky not to have been more seriously injured bearing in mind the mechanism of the collision and impact. That stretch of the road in the past has seen some serious accidents. It was good to see that the outcome of this was not serious."

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