MORE needs to be done to protect the safety of children after a car crashed into a playground alongside a busy main road.

The driver of the car had a lucky escape when it overturned on the A44 between Leominster and Bromyard, but concerned residents have started a petition for road safety measures.

Despite a 50mph speed limit through Steen’s Bridge, the car reportedly crashed into a telegraph pole before coming to a stop in a children’s play area.

According to Humber, Ford and Stoke Prior parish council, the Ford car also crossed an area where children wait to catch buses to school.

Parish clerk Philip Brown, said: “In under two weeks, 109 signatures were obtained from this small community, which represents virtually everybody who lives there and also many concerned visitors.

“Local residents regularly report dangerous driving and near-misses, and there have been numerous accidents on the A44 in this area.

“This serious accident highlights the dangers, particularly to local children, and residents are understandably fearful of something worse happening.

“There have been three serious accidents on the A44 in the Steen’s Bridge and Docklow area in the last three weeks alone.”

In a letter sent with the petition to Clive Hall, acting assistant director for highways and transport,an urgent meeting was requested to discuss additional safety measures.

Chairman William Jackson added: “The council endorsed residents’ concerns, and has written to Herefordshire Council, forwarding the petition and calling for another urgent meeting to discuss safety on the A44.

“Although the parish council has succeeded in getting some additional safety measures implemented here, such as extending the no-overtaking lines and imminent new speed limits, these recent accidents show that more needs to be done, and quickly.”

COMMENT: Curb death toll on our roads

The petition was presented to a meeting of the parish council on 18 September, with Herefordshire Council cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, John Harrington in attendance.

The call for review comes in a week which has seen two drivers airlifted to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham from separate accidents.

On Monday, a two-car crash on the A4103 between Hereford and Worcester left one woman with serious injuries, not believed to be life-threatening, a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said.

On the same afternoon, the driver of a car at the junction of the A449 and B4224 near Old Gore, Ross-on-Wye, a woman in her 50s, was also seriously injured.

Anyone with information should call West Mercia Police on 101, quoting incident 450s of September 23.

The Hereford Times is reminding drivers of the importance of being safe on the roads in the run up to the clock going back at the end of October.

#SlowDownStaySafe