Motorcyclists airlifted to hospital after Snake Pass crash

Police were called to the incident at 12.41pm yesterday after they received a call shortly after the incident had happened.

READ MORE: Snake Pass closed due to 'police incident'

The motorcyclists were hurt close to the summit of the pass, which is part of the A57, which rises to over 500m above sea level at its highest point. It is one of the main roads linking Sheffield and Manchester and is also known for its picturesque scenery and is crossed by the Pennine Way.

Derbyshire police said today the incident involved two motorbikes, but no other vehicles were believed to be involved.

They said both motorcyclists were taken to hospital by air ambulance with injuries that they had sustained, but that were not life threatening.

The road was closed while emergency services carried out work at the scene, police said.

Figures from the Department of Transport last year showed the A57 was the most dangerous road in the High Peak, the area where most of its length runs – with 137 accidents between 2014 and 2018.

The stretch of road was ranked as having the highest number of road accidents causing casualties in the entire borough during the four-year period.

When those figures were released last summer, the Department for Transport (DfT) said it was making improvements to some of the country’s most dangerous stretches of road.

The department said busier roads would have a higher number of accidents but ‘vital improvements’ were being made to roads.

A spokesperson said: “We are committed to improving road safety across the country and the Safer Roads Fund will provide vital improvements to the 50 most dangerous stretches of road in England.

“In addition we launched a Road Safety Action Plan last year which set out more than 70 measures to reduce the number of people killed and injured on our roads.”

But the road safety charity Brake said there were steps motorists could take to prevent crashes - such as slowing down, not using mobile phones when driving and getting their eyesight tested regularly.

Local journalism holds the powerful to account and gives people a voice. Please take out a digital subscription or buy a paper. Thank you. Nancy Fielder, editor.