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The south London intersection where a 17-year-old dirt biker was seriously hurt after colliding with a pickup is notorious for crashes and close calls and needs better traffic controls, neighbours say.
Emergency crews were called to Glanworth Drive and Bradish Road near the city’s southern edge in response to the crash at 7 p.m. Thursday, London police said.
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A male teen was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said. The other driver remained at the scene.
The dirt bike was heading north on Bradish Road when it collided with a truck going east on Glanworth Drive, witnesses said. The intersection is controlled by a stop sign on Bradish.
Adam Laidlaw, who works at a nearby car repair shop, said he was talking to a neighbour when he and his fiancé heard a loud “bang.”
It was a bad crash, he said. “We then saw a child on the asphalt,” and a helmet and shoes strewn on the road.
A photo taken by Laidlaw, and seen by The Free Press, showed significant damage to the door of the truck, whose occupants were described by witnesses as an older couple.
It’s not unusual to see area youths riding bikes on nearby gravel roads, he said.
Laidlaw also praised emergency crews’ quick response, saying the first police officer arrived at the scene “within four minutes.”
Area residents have long asked for a four-way stop at the intersection, Kevin Laidlaw, Adam’s father, said, noting crashes happen there “all the time” due to speeding and poor visibility of oncoming traffic.
Residents struck a committee a few years ago to push for improved traffic measures at the rural intersection, the elder Laidlaw said.
“It should be a four-way stop,” he said. “It won’t take care of everything but a four-way stop would’ve helped. It would be tragic if something else happens.”
Anyone who was in the area at the time of the crash is asked to call London police at 519-661-5670.
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