A DRIVER who was involved in a serious road accident claims some roundabouts in Chippenham pose a real threat to safety because of the combination of poor road camber and high lorry speeds.
Rob Clews of Chevral Close, Chippenham, had an accident on the roundabout near Chippenham Golf Course after a timber lorry shed its load.
Mr Clews was driving from the M4 into Chippenham and pulled up in a queue of traffic waiting at the roundabout.
A large lorry carrying tree trunks drove onto the roundabout from the bypass.
The vehicle was going too fast and the driver lost control, sending the tree trunks hurtling off the back of his trailer and onto the road.
Despite serious damage to the vehicles, Mr Clews says he was lucky to escape with only minor injuries to his back and big toe.
Mr Clews and his wife Janet are now calling for something to be done to improve the camber and slow down heavy lorries.
"The lorry was travelling far too fast and with the awful camber on the road, totally lost it," said Mrs Clews.
"Two cars were write-offs, and my husband's Vauxhall Vectra sustained £6,000 worth of damage.
"All three drivers were lucky to be alive and amazingly the lorry driver wasn't prosecuted," she said.
"I think something needs to be done about the camber on these roundabouts and the timber firms should be warned to drive slower through Chippenham before there is a loss of life," she said.
Mr Clews said the other two drivers were taken to hospital, and the second suffered some back problems.
"I think it is a combination of lorries going round the roundabouts too fast, and the roads," he said.
Mr Clews, a project engineer, said he now approaches the roundabouts with caution and steers clear of timber lorries.
Last week a timber lorry carrying timber overturned and spilled part of its load on the A350 bypass as it was leaving the Bumpers Farm roundabout. in the direction of the Safeway roundabout.
The lorry fell on a verge, and the road was not blocked.
Wiltshire County Council traffic manager Andrew Wyatt said he was not aware of any particular problems being experienced at the golf course roundabout.
He said two or three lorries had turned over on the roundabout at the south of the bypass near McDonald's in the last two years. Road markings had since been set out to guide large vehicles through the junction, he said, and this had sorted out the problem.
"The A350 is an extremely busy road with a lot of heavy lorries, so these incidents might happen from time to time," he said.
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