Teenage driver hurt in motorway crash

Apr 29 2009 by Sophie Doughty, The Journal

THIS is the dramatic moment a teenager was airlifted to hospital after a motorway crash.

The young driver was left with serious injuries when his car careered off the A1 (M), crashed through a fence and came to rest in a field.

The 18-year-old suffered serious chest and internal injuries following the accident on Monday.

And a chopper from the Great North Air Ambulance fleet had to land in the field, near Bradbury, County Durham, to airlift him to hospital in Middlesbrough. Police are now appealing for witnesses to the smash.

The accident happened at around 2.20pm as the teenager was driving along the northbound carriageway of the motorway, about a mile north of junction 59, at Bradbury.

For reasons still unknown, his blue Citroen Saxo veered to the near-side of the road and travelled up a grass embankment before smashing through a wooden fence, and coming to rest in a field. The driver was flown to the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.

At first his injuries were described as life-threatening, but he has since improved and he is now in a ‘serious but stable’ condition.

The road was closed for just under three hours while the car was recovered and investigations carried out.

Accident investigators from Durham Police are appealing for witnesses to the smash to come forward.