Sherburn-In-Elmet road branded most dangerous in Yorkshire

A STRETCH of road in Sherburn-In-Elmet has been branded one of the most dangerous in the county following the death of a biker.

An inquest at Selby Magistrates’ Court heard how Anthony Steele, a 46-year-old former UK Porsche racing champion, died in a motorcycle crash on the B1222 road between the Milk Bar and Newthorpe railway bridge on May 31 this year.

TC Graham McCulloch, a crash investigator for North Yorkshire Police, said it was a particularly dangerous piece of road.

He said: “There are hundreds of miles of highway similar to this and I can’t think of any stretch of road which has this level of injury accidents concentrated in such a small area.” He said in the five years to the date of the accident there had been 12 injury-accidents on the stretch of road and of those 12 accidents, three had resulted in someone’s death. It was heard that since Mr Steele’s death there have been another two fatalities in that area.

The inquest was told how Kerry Marklew, of Sherburn-in-Elmet, was driving her Jeep Cherokee along the stretch of road towards the railway bridge when she stopped to allow an oncoming Peugeot car through the bridge’s tunnel first.

TC McCulloch said Mr Steele had then ridden up behind Miss Marklew on his Honda CV57 motorcycle. He braked, but despite only travelling at 36mph, skidded and slid into the oncoming lane where he was hit by the Peugeot car driven by Clifford Wilkinson.

Mr Wilkinson said: “When I first saw him he was rolling across the road toward the front of my car.”

Mr Steele, of Stanningley, Leeds, died of multiple injuries.

Coroner Geoff Fell said all those involved were driving at a reasonable speed and no blame was to be attributed to any party. He concluded the cause of death was accidental.

Selby MP John Grogan said all agencies needed to continue educating motorists and motorcyclists about the risks on the county’s roads. He said: “This man’s sad death is a tragic reminder of the need for North Yorkshire County Council and Police to make every effort possible to reduce the number of accidents in the area through educational awareness.”

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