Lucky escape in Lyneham crossing
crash
Gazette and Herald
www.gazetteandherald.co.uk
26th March 2009
By Alana Lewis
Mums Mandy Haynes and Jackie
Falconer have re-lived the moment they were hit by a van
at a zebra crossing in Lyneham on Friday morning (20th March
2009).
Mrs Haynes and Mrs Falconer were lucky to escape with
minor injuries after being thrown into the air when a van,
which had stopped to let them cross the A3102, was shunted
from behind by a bus.
Mrs Haynes, 42, of Slessor Road, said: “We heard
an almighty bang and I can remember landing on the floor.
We must have been hit fairly hard because we went flying
into the air.”
The women had dropped their children off at Lyneham Primary
School and were on their way home from Tesco. They got
to the middle of the zebra crossing outside the RAF base,
where a van stopped to let them cross before it was hit
by a double decker Stagecoach bus.
Mrs Haynes said: “The van driver had stopped for
us and we waved to say thanks. You do not expect
the person behind to carry on driving. I will be
a lot more wary when crossing the road from now on and
I will make sure all the cars stop.”
The two women consider themselves lucky to have come out
of the incident with just minor injuries, and are thankful
it did not happen during the school run.
Mrs Falconer, 35, of Dickson Road, said: “If this
had happened half an hour earlier there could have been
ten kids on the crossing. I am glad it was a Friday because
my little girl was in nursery. If it had happened another
day she would have been in the pram with us.
“We were lucky we were not seriously hurt because
we flew right up in the air. Mandy came out worse because
I landed on top of her.”
The pair spent the weekend coming to terms with what happened
and are now wary of using the crossing.
Mrs Falconer, a dry cleaner, said: “I have not been
out much since the accident because I think I have been
in shock. I will be sticking to using the shops
on this side of the road for a while. We were very
lucky and that is what we need to remember – we should
not think about what could have been.” |
