Mum who lost daughter Hope Fennell in road collision on Kings Heath High Street reacts to hit and run

A mum who lost her daughter to a road collision in 2011 in Kings Heath, Birmingham, has reacted to the lastest hit and run collision in the neighbourhood.

On Thursday (June 15), a woman and child were struck by a car while they were on a pedestrian crossing on Kings Heath High Street around 8.50am. The child was taken to hospital with serious injuries and the woman with head and leg injuries.

West Midlands Police said today (June 16) that the child remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital and a 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving whilst unfit through drink/drugs. The man remained in custody last night.

Nazan Fennell, mum of Hope Fennell - who died aged 13 after a collision on Kings Heath, said on Twitter: “@Trafficwmp so what do you think of today’s atrocious hit and run on KingsHeath High Street? Exactly where my daughter Hope Fennell was killed? What will you do about it please you are my only Hope.”

She added: “My heart is bleeding for the family of the children who are fighting for their life what kind of community allows this to happen to their children on the way to school?”

What happened to Hope Fennell?

Hope was crossing the road while riding her cycle when she was hit by a lorry. She was trapped under the vehicle after being hit. The driver, Darren Foster, from Derby, was jailed for six months after he admitted to dangerous driving.

The Queensbridge School student’s mother has been campaign for road safety since then and was named an Archangel, the highest honour in the RoSPA Guardian Angel Awards scheme, in 2015.

Traffic chaos in High Street

Since the hit and run on June 15, several people have reacted on Twitter about the incident and have called on the authorities to hasten active travel delivery.

Despite turning Kings Heath into a low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) - a controversial scheme called Places for People initiative which became a permanent measure - residents say issues with bad parking, speeding, red light jumping have continued.

One Twitter user shared a video of what the road traffic in the neighbourhood is like. In the video, the poster says cars can be seen jumping a red light while children and adults wait at the pedestrian crossing.

One person responded to the video saying: “Well done in highlighting this. You will find that this happens all over Birmingham and needs proper enforcement.”

Vigil for victims of road traffic collisions

The collision comes just days after a vigil took place in Belgrave Middleway by campaigners following four road traffic collision deaths, including two children, in little more than month.

The vigil took place near Belgrave Middleway where a cyclist - a father Hussien Nur Teklise - died in Birmingham in the past few weeks.

Organised by Better Streets for Birmingham, a community organisation, the group said: “In addition to the 50 people who attended, it was fantastic to see drivers and passers by show their support for this important vigil.” However, that is not all that they saw. The group said they saw drivers speeding, red light jumping and more as they gathered.

The group said: “In the hour we were there, we witnessed speeding, red light jumping, illegal vehicle modifications and some incredibly anti-social driving. This behaviour is precisely what killed those who we were remembering. The dreadful events of this week needs to mark a line in the sand. Everybody must work together to tackle dangerous driving and quickly deliver safe alternatives for people walking, wheeling and scooting.”

Another vigil will take place on Sunday (June 18) at 11am on Kings Heath high street - the same day as the Pride event called Queen’s Heath. Meanwhile, a critical mass for active travel will take place tomorrow (Saturday June 17) at 4pm on York Road.