Ruth's Blog

Scrapbooks created by staff at Louth Hospital between 1966 and 1969 contain reports of incidents that resulted in people needing medical treatment.  The number of fatal road traffic accidents at this time was extremely high.  I find it amazing how much detail the local newspapers were allowed to disclose, and how several of the accidents most likely wouldn't have happened today.  Three examples are given here.

While walking alone home from school, a four-year-old was hit by a car on St Bernard's Avenue.  The driver of the car took her to Louth Hospital but she died not long after they arrived.  The child normally took a route to and from school which had only one road to cross, and that was controlled by a traffic warden, but on this particular day she had gone a different way so she could play with her friends.  The pathologist reported that her death was mainly due to spinal injury.  Witnesses of the accident said that there was no chance of the driver avoiding the little girl.

A 17-year-old pupil at Louth Grammar School fell off his motorbike while going along on the B1200 Louth to Manby road, at 2.30 pm.  He was taken to Louth Hospital by his school friend who was on another motorcycle.  The friend, who was driving behind the victim at the time, said, ‘he appeared to veer to the edge of the road for no apparent reason.  He went onto the long grass where the back wheel bounced and threw him off.’  He died in Louth Hospital.  The doctor stated that there was internal bruising in his brain.

Seat belts became compulsory on new cars in the UK from 1968, but it was thought that the seatbelt worn by a 22-year-old may have contributed to her death.  She was a passenger in a Triumph Spitfire driven by her fiancé when they were returning from an evening in Skegness.  The injury she suffered was consistent with sudden pressure being exerted around her waist, although without the seat belt other injuries may have occurred.  The driver told the paper that ‘he approached a right-hand bend on the A16 in Burwell, which dipped slightly, at a speed of around 45-50 mph, when the car started to go 'all over.’  He tried to keep the car on the road, but it hit a tree.  The next thing that he remembered was waking up and turning the ignition off.  A lady who was driving on the other side of the road, saw that the driver and passenger were trapped in the car, and called for assistance.  The couple in the Spitfire were later released by ambulance men.  He survived, but she died.  Since 2022, the speed limit in Burwell has been 30 mph.