Girl, 16, is critical after Baildon car collision (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Girl, 16, is critical after Baildon car collision

7:10am Friday 13th July 2012 in News By Dolores Cowburn, Bradford Chief Reporter

A 16-year-old girl is critically ill after a high-speed late-night crash.

The car in which she was travelling was in collision with another car and a wall in Baildon Road, Baildon.

Firefighters from Shipley and Idle cut the teenager free from the Peugeot 106 at 10.55pm on Wednesday.

Accident investigators are now trying to establish exactly what happened leading up to the crash involving the hatchback and an X-type Jaguar.

The teenager is in Bradford Royal Infirmary. A 17-year-old and a 22-year-old from the same car were taken to hospital with minor injuries but later discharged.

The crash happened near the junction of Albert Street as both vehicles headed up the hill towards the centre of Baildon.

Watch Commander Andy Holdsworth, from Shipley Fire Station, said: “The girl was conscious and breathing when we cut her free and she was taken to BRI with serious head injuries.

“It appears from initial investigations that it was a high-speed collision and both cars were written off. It was quite an impact.

“The rear of the 106 was badly damaged and was forced into a wall. It happened near the junction with Albert Street where a lot of people tend to pick up a bit of speed and bomb up the hill and it is quite a wide open road.”

Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision or the vehicles movements prior to the incident to contact PC Phillip Day on the 101 number.

People who heard the “loud smash” rushed to help, with one from the nearby Kassapians apartments throwing a blanket over the injured teenager.

A 28-year-old resident of Baildon Road said: “We just heard brakes going and a big crash and saw smoke coming up the road. There were young lasses screaming. Quite a few people came out from the flats to see what had happened. The people in the cars were pretty shaken up.”

He said the driver of the Jaguar said he had been turning when the Peugeot shunted into the back of his car.

The resident added: “There was a guy there who was checking everybody was out and made sure the car was not about to set on fire. It was badly damaged and smoking.”

Another woman, who did not want to be named, said: “I looked out later on and there was an ambulance and a fire engine, which was there for a long time.”

Police closed Baildon Road from its junction with Rockcliffe Avenue to the junction with Otley Road and re-directed traffic around the accident scene until about 5am yesterday.

A police spokesman last night said the 16-year-old girl remained in hospital in a stable condition.