Life on accident 'blackspot' road where parents ask 'will my child be next?'

Residents in Cotteridge fear for their children on an accident 'blackspot' road where a pedestrian died in a collision. Anxious locals living near Pershore Road roundabout said their lives had been blighted by an 'epidemic' of dangerous driving in their area.

The community was left 'reeling' following the death of the pedestrian, who was killed in a collision with a lorry. The 53-year-old died at the scene following the crash and the investigation into his death is continuing.

There was no evidence the trucker was driving recklessly, locals said the crash left them feeling 'scared and worried' on their own streets and called on the city council to act to avoid further tragedies. Supported by campaign group Better Streets for Birmingham, they took to the site of the collision to 'demonstrate the extent of dangerous driving' in their community' - allegedly recording 39 drivers on their phone in a 90-minute period.

READ MORE: Police warn Birmingham drivers 'last chance or we'll take your car'

Claire Hammond, a Cotteridge resident, said last month's crash had left her feeling 'worried' for her children's safety. "My eldest is 11 and I’m thinking: 'Am I bringing her up in a safe space?," she said.

"It makes me feel scared, and a bit helpless as well. She wants to go out on her own, and go to the shops on her own – when I was about seven I used to go to the shops on my own but it’s not safe now.

"There are more cars, more speeding, more jumping red lights, and there’s a lot of HGVs in this area as well which I definitely didn’t notice as much growing up.”

Fellow local Adrian Platt despaired at what he described as an “epidemic of distracted driving” he had witnessed. “It’s not worth it for a WhatsApp message”, he said. “If it’s that urgent, pull over and take the call.”

Another resident, Dave Martin, added: "This has to stop, we can't keep killing people. I work in the aviation industry, if we killed as many people as the roads do today, planes would be grounded."

West Midlands Police said its investigation into the death of a man on Pershore Road in September continued. A spokesperson said: "We are absolutely committed to working with partners to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads of the West Midlands.

"As part of the launch of the West Midlands Police Roads Policing Unit, we’ve created a second road harm prevention team to target motorists who commit the fatal four offences of speeding, drink/drug-driving, using mobile phones, and not wearing a seatbelt. But our officers can’t be everywhere at once, so we would encourage anyone with dashcam, helmet cam or mobile phone footage of careless or dangerous driving to send it to us.

"We act where we can, issuing fines and court summonses for the most serious cases, but also offering drivers education where we can."