Three generations of the same family were "lucky to walk away" from a horror crash on the A1 in Northumberland. Michelle Birbeck was travelling on the road on Sunday afternoon with her mum and nine-year-old daughter Emily when they were hit by a car travelling the opposite direction.
Fortunately, Michelle was able to swerve and avoid a direct, head-on collision. However, their car was badly damaged and likely written off. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Michelle said she felt lucky that all three had been able to walk away from the collision. She has been left with severe bruising around her shoulder and collarbone, but there were no serious injuries.
Crash unfolded in seconds
She said: "I was just driving down the A1 like I do on an almost daily basis living up here. The car in front of us swerved a bit and a car coming the other way then swerved onto my side of the road - it didn't go back.
"I swore and swerved enough so he didn't hit us head on. He hit us on the back of the car and spun us - we ended up in a bush between two trees. My car is gone.
"It would have been a head-on collision if I hadn't swerved, there wouldn't have been enough time to brake. Thankfully I was paying attention.
"I've watched my dashcam footage and it all happened in one or two seconds. All it would've taken was for me to have been checking my mirrors at the wrong time.
"If it had been a head on, that's not something you walk away from. We've been damned lucky."
Renewed calls to dual the A1
There have been a number of serious crashes on the road this year, resulting in several fatalities. This has reignited calls to dual the A1 on safety grounds. The Chronicle and Journal are heading a new campaign to dual the A1, and has brought together a coalition of political, business and community leaders to support that call after a number of recent deaths on the road. A petition to dual the A1 launched alongside our campaign has now secured more than 3,500 signatures.
The Northumberland A1 Safety Alliance (NASA) has also started a parliamentary petition which has been signed by 3,200 people at the time of writing. It can be signed on the parliament website by searching "A1 Safety Guarantee".
Driver urges dualling and better standards
While Michelle feels that driving standards also need to improve, she felt dualling the road would prevent devastating head-on incidents. She continued: "I work at Alnwick Market, I have a stall there. I have to travel on that road every time I want to go to work - we have to go on it to do our shopping, if we want anything.
"I'm on there so many times every week and there is just accident after accident. The first thing I was taught when I was learning to drive is you're driving a two-ton killing machine.
"If you lose concentration, you can kill someone. People seem to have forgotten that, the standard of driving is terrible.
"I think they need to make it a dual carriageway, but they need to look at dualling it up to Edinburgh. Had we been on a dual carriageway on Sunday, there might still have been an accident but the other driver would have side-swiped somebody and there would have been two cars that probably could have been repaired.
"Once I can, I will be back out on the A1 because I need to do it, I have to. It is the main road through the North East and it has just been pushed back and ignored.
"The whole thing needs looking at, because for it to still be single carriageway is ridiculous - especially with the volume of traffic we have.
"If it was dual carriageway all the way, you would still have accidents because they happen on every road in the country, no matter the quality of it - and that's down to the standard of driving - but I think there would be fewer and there would be more people able to travel more safely. You would also be able to put better junctions in."
Family cat missing after crash
At the time of the accident, Michelle was taking the family cat Friday to a pet store for a new cat carrier. Following the crash, a terrified Friday slipped her harness and has not yet been found. Michelle added: "Friday is still missing. He bolted into the field after the crash.
"He's so friendly, he loves people and even dogs. My mum has been out looking for him and local farmers have offered to use their drones to help find him."
Plans to dual a 13-mile stretch of the road between Morpeth and Ellingham were scrapped in 2024, with the Government deeming the scheme poor value for money. Officials have said that while that position remains the same, work is being undertaken to implement safety and junction improvements along the route as part of the Road Investment Strategy.
