Dartmoor drivers warned of accident hotspot after crash

Lisa Young

BBC News, South West

BBC The yellow car is lying on its side next to the River Dart. The windscreen is cut away and smashed, the bumper is ripped away and its wheels are askew. — Firefighters said the people in the car on Friday night had been “very lucky to have survived”

A fire chief has warned drivers to be aware of an accident hotspot on Dartmoor after three people were injured when the car they were in overturned.

Ashburton Fire Station crew manager Chris Stanton said drivers should take the “very sharp corner gently ” at the Spitchwick junction in the Poundsgate.

He said a car had come off the road and plunged 60ft (18m) down a wooded cliff face before coming to rest on the edge of the River Dart on Friday night.

The driver and two passengers suffered minor injuries and Mr Stanton said they had been “very lucky to have survived” as there had been accidents at the spot in the past in which “the outcomes had been worse”.

Drivers have been urged to approach the sharp bend at the Spitchwick junction with care

Google Maps The sharp bend at the Spitchwick junction is lined with an old stone wall covered in moss and lined with trees. — Drivers have been urged to approach the sharp bend at the Spitchwick junction with care

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said crews from Ashburton, Bovey Tracey and Buckfastleigh fire stations had attended the scene at about 22.30 BST.

Mr Stanton said it had been “tricky” for firefighters to get down to the car.

Initially they had to stabilise the car to make it safe before they could get in to the car and get the casualties out.

He said the driver and two passengers had been taken to hospital with injuries including cuts, bruises, a head injury and a back injury.