CALLS have been made for safety to be improved on a "dangerous" lane where 38 people have been hurt in crashes in the last five years.
In the latest incident, John Drew was left bloodied and bruised and his 1939 pick-up truck damaged beyond repair, after a smash with a car on the tight bends in narrow Kings Mill Lane, South Nutfield.
The road has a 40mph limit, although entering the bends in one direction a road sign advises a maximum 30mph, there is no such sign travelling the other way.
Now Mr Drew's family, of Robins Cook Farm, in Kings Mill Lane, are calling for the speed limit to be cut to make drivers slow down, and stop the carnage.
"Something needs to be done to make the drivers aware," said Mr Drew.
Shaken after the crash on August 18, the 83-year-old was also left "very upset" about the damage to his 74-year-old green Ford V8 pick-up truck, which he imported from Alabama and drove every Sunday morning.
Surrey Police has confirmed it intends to make the driver of the BMW, which crashed into Mr Drew, sit a driver awareness course, but this has done little to reassure Mr Drew's family.
His son, also called John, said: "If it had been a right-hand drive vehicle dad would certainly have been more seriously injured.
"There is a constant flurry of crashes in this lane and I think the speed limit should be cut.
"Twenty is more than adequate to go around the bends. If you meet a lorry there, you have got to stop because they take up the whole road.
"The road should also be widened, and vegetation cut back to improve visibility."
Surrey County Council statistics show that between January 1, 2008, and June 30 this year, there were 25 reported crashes in which 38 people were hurt, five of them seriously.
Council spokeswoman Joy Ridley said: "The safety of our residents and other Surrey road-users is a priority for us.
"We became aware last year of a number of incidents on the same bend of this road and a site visit revealed that the signs warning drivers of the bend were in poor condition and needed upgrading, which we have done.
"We are also going to install extra signs at the second bend, where there are currently warning signs on one approach to the bend but not the other, and we have included the road in the Operation Horizon programme for resurfacing.
"We'll continue to monitor the situation to see if anything more needs to be done."
