Neighbours on Hayfied Road in Moseley, Birmingham, speak out against the dangerous driving on their street

Neighbours in the Birmingham suburb of Moseley are demanding action to curb dangerous driving following years of speeding and several serious crashes on their road.

The incidents include a driver hurtling into a tree and another one crashing his car through a fence to land in a family’s back garden. Hayfield Road, near Moseley Bog, connects Yardley Wood Road and Wake Green Road and sees large numbers of cars passing down it each day.

Collisions on Hayfield Road in Moseley

June Green has lived on the street for 23 years and said: “Speeding has gotten immensely worse over the last few years.” On June 9 2022 she was sitting in her flat when she heard a loud bang and rushed outside to see the wreckage of a car whose driver had collided with a tree before trying to continue down the road.

“It turned out his passenger side had hit the tree and his passenger was trapped,” she said of the teen victim who was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after Ms Green called the emergency services. She added: “Something that’s often not taken into account is how these things affect the people that live here. Because every time I hear squealing around the corner now, or wait for the bang that I heard that day and know that it’s going to be a really bad accident, it does make me very nervous.”

Another spot on the road which is notorious for incidents is the house on the corner of Yardley Wood Road, belonging to Mohammed Ibrahim Zareian. Several years ago a car crashed straight through the garden fence and onto his lawn, just as his wife – a keen gardner – had popped inside for a cup of tea.

The house has been hit on two other occasions within three years leaving the family scared in case it happens again. “If that’s not a serious incident, I don’t know what is,” said his next door neighbour Khalid Rashid. “Are we waiting for someone to die? Is that the criteria to do something?”

Mr Rashid recalled parking his car near the corner as far back as 1993, when it was smashed into by a speeding car which drove off. He said: “That is such a dangerous spot there, it is basically law of probability. It’s a case of, not if, but when it might happen.”

Speeding on Hayfield Road in Moseley

Mr Rashid said “speeding traffic” is the main issue and he regularly sees “people hurtling round” the bend like “bumper cars”. “They don’t care, they just do not care,” he added in frustration. “I’ve witnessed a lot of near misses but I have also seen some accidents.”- Marie Waldren, a nurse, confirmed. Seven years ago she attended to a victim who was hit directly outside her house by a driver who lost control of their car.

Annie Hobart has been a resident on Hayfield for eight years and gave up her car when she moved and is nervous any time she has to cross the road. “Honestly, you’re taking your life in your hands,” she said. “When they approach my house [from both directions] I always think ‘are they going to smash into each other?’”

Disturbing noises on Hayfield Road in Moseley

Shahid Malik has lived on the road for 15 years and has a nine-year-old autistic son who is sensitive to the explosive noises coming from souped up car exhausts and revving engines. “For someone like him, it’s difficult to sleep, you hear the bang at night time, it’s very disturbing, very, very disturbing,” Mr Malik said. He is also concerned for the safety of his family and has even put up railings around his house for protection.

Indira Dumasia, who has lived on the road for 30 years, finds the noise and speed scary” especially since the death of her partner. Several years ago her car was written off after a driver rammed into it as it was parked outside her house overnight.

She said: “I just lost my husband two years ago, you know. My neighbours, they’re so good with me, we all look after each other. Any problems, we are there for each other even in the night, so noone wants to move.”

What’s the solution?

Moseley councillor Izzy Knowles (Lib Dem) submitted a petition to the council in July 2022 but was told it would take nine serious collisions to happen within three years before anything was done.

She also approached Highways where an engineer suggested installing more signs, but Coun Knowles said: “I’m not sure that would really make much difference, especially if somebody’s speeding and they’re not concentrating, signage won’t really change that.” She has suggested to the residents that a ‘modal filter’ which would limit traffic to cyclists and pedestrians, restricting car use.

The residents need to decide among themselves if they want this and then approach the councillors, who would consider how to fund it (it costs approximately £20,000).

Coun Knowles said that doing the work alongside roadworks on other, nearby streets, could reduce the cost as several roads would benefit from the expensive road closure permit at once. The residents are determined to see change and are gathering support from their neighbours.

Mr Rashid said: “I’m sick and tired of people saying the council doesn’t have any money. We are paying council tax, Birmingham City Council is the biggest council in Europe. Don’t give me that ‘I’ve got no money’. That’s rubbish.”