A CORONER has demanded police compile a report of the accident history of a moorland road blackspot where three death crashes have occurred in five years.

Physics teacher Christopher Crowther, 33, died instantly when he lost control of his MG-ZR as he approached a sharp right hand bend near Graincliffe Reservoir in Otley Road, High Eldwick, on April 22 this year.

After cresting a sharp rise, the MG spun sideways into the path of a furniture removal van coming the opposite way.

An inquest in Bradford yesterday heard how Mr Crowther, of Moor Lane Close, Queensbury, who taught at Grange Technology College in Bradford, had never driven on that road before and could have assumed it was 60mph speed limit as there was no road sign indicating otherwise.

The inquest heard the road surface was painted with the word 'SLOW' but crash barriers signalling the sharp bend further along would have been obscured to Mr Crowther's vision because of the blind summit as he travelled towards East Morton about half a mile away from Dick Hudson's pub where he had met a friend for lunch.

There was a 50mph warning sign but only on the opposite side of the road.

Collision investigator Andrew Oversby said he believed Mr Crowther had sped towards a rise in the road not knowing a sharp bend lay beyond it and as he topped the crest, the suspension of his car would have lifted causing it to lose grip with the road surface and go out-of-control.

The combined impact speed between the two vehicles was put at about 90mph.

Mr Oversby said: "In my opinion the cause was excessive speed opposed to the nature of the road."

The inquest was told Mr Crowther had not been drinking alcohol and phone record checks by police showed he had not been making a call or sending a text at the time of the crash.

Investigators found that he was wearing a seatbelt but because his car crashed sideways the airbag did not inflate and he died from severe multiple injuries.

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Recording that Mr Crowther had died as a result of a road traffic collision, Bradford Assistant Coroner Dr Dominic Bell asked Mr Oversby to compile a report on the road's accident history, identifying the nature and number of collisions, so he could consider making recommendations to Bradford Council to help prevent any future deaths.

Dr Bell said: “I will await the information from the collision investigator. The fact there’s barriers does tend to suggest vehicles leaving the road and therefore there should be a history.

"In the light of any knowledge that there’s merit in emphasising the blind summit and the turn to the right I will make recommendations at that point. I need to be in an informed position.”

After the inquest Mr Crowther's father John, who was attended the inquest with his wife Barbara and their two other sons Martin and James, said: "I hope the Coroner does make recommendations.

"We don't want anything like this to happen to another family. There was no 50mph sign on his side of the road, he'd never been on it before, he could easily have assumed it was 60mph. Something has to be done, more signs or rumble strips."

On October 10 this year, Samuel Francis Edson, 38, of Ilkley, died from serious head injuries on the same stretch of road when his Porsche Boxster collided with a parked lorry and ended up in trees.

In late 2009, Danielle Heggarty, 21, of Ingrow, Keighley, died in a head-on collision while driving a silver Vauxhall Corsa in Otley Road.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Otley Road at High Eldwick
Otley Road at High Eldwick

Shipley MP Philip Davies yesterday said he hoped the Council would give serious thought to any recommendations made by the Coroner.

"Clearly when there's a spate of accidents like this, there's something not right," he said.

Councillor Mark Shaw (Con, Bingley) has also previously called for action to be taken to stop more lives being lost.