Off-road bikes could cost lives warns Crosland Hill dad Derek Day

Oct 12 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

POLICE have condemned off-road bikers after a serious crash in Huddersfield.

The driver of a car escaped with shock but the vehicle was written off after a smash with an off-road biker.

The 17-year-old bike rider ended up in hospital but was lucky to escape serious injury.

Now Derek Day, whose son, Scott, was driving the car, is calling for parents to keep children on a tighter leash before someone gets killed.

And police have pledged to continue their crackdown on the bikers.

He said: “It was dark, he had no lights and no high-visibility clothing and Scott didn’t see him coming.

“It’s only a matter of time before someone gets really hurt or killed.”

Scott, of Crosland Hill Road, Crosland Hill, was returning to his home after seeing a friend on Monday evening when the accident happened.

The 22-year-old physiotherapist was near the junction of Crosland Hill Road and Blackmoorfoot Road when the biker came out of the darkness and smashed into his £1,200 Peugeot car.

The rider flew across his bonnet and landed in the road. Scott was shaken up but not badly hurt.

Mr Day, 48, who runs DMD Universal Tools Supplies in Milnsbridge, said: “I was shocked to see the extensive damage the off-road bike had caused and that the young lad on the bike was not killed outright.”

He said there was a problem with youngsters riding the bikes through a ginnel off Crosland Hill Road, often with younger children riding pillion.

“They constantly ride them on the road with no insurance and don’t realise the devastation that can be caused to families on both sides,” he added.