We visit Birmingham neighbourhood with dangerous history of major traffic incidents involving pedestrians

Devoted lollipop man Mark Swain is being run ragged by kids wanting to cross a mini roundabout on their way to school. “Sorry, it’s hard to talk, I’ve got to get these kids across,” he says, out of breath. We’re in Kings Heath, a place that has seen more major incidents involving pedestrians being struck down than anywhere else in Birmingham.

Back in June, a woman and child were lucky to survive after a hit-and-run  on the high street in an incident that sparked a heated protest.

Fast-forward a few months and a 1,000-strong petition has been put to Birmingham City Council calling for a car-free street outside Kings Heath Primary School. The petition, set up by mum Rachel Segal Hamilton, reads: “The situation outside our school has become increasingly problematic, with thoughtless and sometimes aggressive drivers, including parents, parking cars across the roads, on pavements, blocking footways, idling engines, and driving recklessly. In a recent incident, someone reversed over the zebra crossings, almost hitting children on their way into class.”

The car-free street would be policed by parents with cones put out to stop parents driving too close to school. It would be in operation for around 30 minutes during drop-off and pick-up times.

It’s not long gone 8.30am here on Poplar Road, 20 minutes before school begins, and traffic is already building. One parent sits in his car with the engine running on double yellow lines waiting for the school gates to open. Other big SUVs drive past the zebra crossing and perform a three-point turn given the bottom half of Poplar Road remains a LTN (low traffic neighbourhood).

I’m joined by concerned mum Katie Day who is calling on the council to make this a car-free school street by September 2024. She says Mark the lollipop man is often  threatened by angry drivers, while she stresses the need for parents to park further away. “People pull up here and don’t even park – literally pull up on the zebra crossing and chuck their kids out of the car,” she says.

“It’s only a minority of parents – you’re talking 20 or 30 that keep doing it. There’s 650 kids at this school – can you imagine if 650 people decided to drive in? But those 30 who do make it so dangerous and so polluted. It’s so bad for kids. This is the most polluted air for kids – on the way to school because of this focus on cars and they’re all at the height [of the fumes].”

She added: “It’s the aggression of the drivers and the kids are having to witness this. It creates a lot of stress for everybody. We’re stressed thinking our kids could be run over. It’s stressful because the child from this school was hit so badly on the High Street. Every time you see a near-miss – you feel it could be inevitable something might happen unless we start [campaigning].”

Fellow mum and campaigner Katie Donnolly agrees. She says: “It’s such a small street and there’s hundreds and hundreds of kids and parents trying to get in… yet you’ve got cars trying to manoeuvre around in this small space. The problem is all of the people piling in at the same time. I’ve seen a near-miss right at the zebra crossing a few times. People don’t pay attention to the zig-zags on the ground or the signs.”

Dad Ed Porteous is also happy to stop and talk about his experience of the school run. “This bit gets incredibly busy,” he says. “It’s been really bad and what you often get is cars parking literally outside school and, if you challenge them, they get aggressive about it.

“You’re having to walk kids through gaps because big SUVs park up while you’ve also got a doctor’s practice around the corner just adding to the congestion.”

Eventually, I get to have a quick word with lollipop man Mark who marshalls kids across four roads to get them to nearby schools; Kings Heath primary, Kings Heath pre-school, Uffculme, Queensbridge and Fox Hollies. “I’ve been here for almost two years,” he says. “I signed the petition and I’m all for anything that makes travelling to school safer. It’s a busy road here – at peak times it’s crazy. I’ve had a few incidents myself because there are idiots on the road driving. It’s a nightmare. This part of the road has always been a cut-through for cars going towards Moseley and Birmingham.”

The plan now is for Kings Heath Primary to become the latest to have a car-free school street implemented outside. A Birmingham City Council statement reads: “Since September 2019, roads outside of 20 schools in Birmingham have been closed to motor traffic at the start and end of the school day. This is part of a scheme to reduce congestion and improve air quality at the school gates as well as making it easier and safer to walk or cycle to school.”

Mark Court, headteacher at Kings Heath Primary School, supports the scheme. “I’m 100 per cent on board with everything the parents are doing,” he says. “They’ve been really proactive – child safety is paramount.

“This road has been more or less chocka with parking, reversing on zebra crossings etc as well so we’ve got to a point now where the school and parents are coming together to say enough is enough.”

Just prior to heading into school, seven-year-old Holly Connolly Innes stops to tell me her views. “There’s too many cars here. I like riding my scooter to school but I don’t feel safe,” she says.