A CRASH victim who had a miraculous escape after his car ended up underneath a petrol tanker on the A120 is calling for the road to be made into a dual carriageway.

By Juliette Maxam

A CRASH victim who had a miraculous escape after his car ended up underneath a petrol tanker on the A120 is calling for the road to be made into a dual carriageway.

John Harris, 41, of Dovercourt, was lucky to escape with his life after his Ford Focus ploughed into a jack-knifed tanker on a single-lane stretch of the road just outside Harwich last Monday morning.

Now Mr Harris is throwing his support behind the East Anglian Daily Times Action for the A120 Campaign, calling on the Department of Transport to improve this major trunk road between Harwich and Little Bromley.

Father-of-two Mr Harris escaped with cuts and bruises from the accident, but it has left him badly traumatised and in great pain.

In tears, Mr Harris told of the moments when he thought he had only seconds to live.

He said he was travelling out of Harwich behind a lorry, with a car ahead signalling to turn into a lane.

An accident then followed in which a petrol tanker coming around a bend in the opposite direction was in a collision with the lorry in front of Mr Harris and jack-knifed across both carriageways.

"I had nowhere to go and I was heading just straight for the back wheels of his lorry – and me doing 40 to 50 miles per hour. I was just convinced it was the last two seconds of my life. I had nowhere to go. He was completely covering the whole two lanes. I just saw my life disappear. All I could see was black smoke and I was just waiting for the final impact. There was no way I thought I'd be alive."

He added: "I just don't know how I possibly, possibly survived."

A self-employed joiner who is now facing months without a living, Mr Harris said: "If it was dual carriageway it clearly wouldn't have happened. I've lived here all my life. I've travelled that road I don't know how many thousands of times.

"This road, apart from a bit of bypass, is a country road. Without question it should be turned into a dual carriageway."

nA 19-year-old man was seriously injured when his silver Peugeot 306 car crashed on the A120, Braintree, at the junction with the B1018, known locally as the McDonald's roundabout.

The accident happened at 3.30am yesterday . No other vehicles were involved. The man, who comes from Braintree, was taken to Broomfield Hospital.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or saw the car before the accident is asked to contact Bocking Road Policing Unit on 01376 330722.