A Royston man who believes he is lucky to be alive is hoping the driver of a car which was travelling the wrong way down the A505 late at night will be brought to justice.
The rogue vehicle caused Vadim Novikov to swerve to avoid a head-on smash – but in the process he caused so much damage to his BMW that the car has been written off.
Vadim, a development technician at the town’s Mettler-Toledo Safeline X-Ray, was driving home on the A505 between Baldock and Royston when the crash happened last Wednesday night.
He told the Crow: “It was about 11.30pm and I thought the other car was on the correct side of the dual carriageway as all I saw were lights before the bend.
“Next thing I know, my rear wheels went spinning and I hit the barrier at about 70mph with my front wheels and spun 360 degrees.
“That was it, then I was on the side of the road. There was a post about a metre away, so I was lucky to get away.
“What has really annoyed me is that the police haven’t done anything about it. I’m sure there are plenty of cameras.
“The police appeared 10 minutes later and asked me if I saw the number plate. All they did was give me an accident ticket.
“I’m annoyed about the situation. I was shocked and really wanted to get home.
“That person should get some points on their licence.”
But Vadim is not the only driver who has had a narrow escape on the same stretch of road in the past week, prompting calls for action to be taken about the road layout.
The following evening – Thursday – Darren Bull had just overtaken a car before he saw a car coming straight at him after pulling out at the BP petrol station.
The car was in the outside lane and travelling at up to 70mph, he believes.
“It was one of those surreal moments,” said Darren, who is the founder of car enthusiast group Royston Modified.
“The driver went past, then I looked in my mirror and saw two cars side by side behind me.
“The woman in the fast lane had to slam on her brakes and pull in behind the car in the slow lane. What if there was another car beside her?
“If she hadn’t been so quick to respond it could have been a different story.
“I pulled over and the woman, who had to slam on her brakes, pulled over, too. She said: ‘I could have died’. She was very shaken.”
Darren believes there needs to be better signage on the road telling motorists it is a dual carriageway to avoid such dangerous situations in the future – especially at night when there are fewer cars and it is dark.
He added: “I felt really nervous driving after that. Whenever a car came towards me, it put me on edge.
“The poor woman said: ‘I don’t want to get back in my car’.
“I looked online and this isn’t the first time this has happened on the A505 – something needs to be done about it.”
In relation to the first incident, a police spokeswoman said: “Officers were called at 11.23pm on Wednesday, April 27, to reports of a vehicle travelling on the wrong side of the A505, which has forced another motorist to swerve out of the way.
“Police attended the scene and officers also searched the area but the vehicle was not located.
“Officers are continuing to work to locate this vehicle and anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting ISR 831 of April 27.”
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