Demand for better safety on busy Walsall road
Improved safety measures are being demanded along a busy Black Country route after a teenager suffered head injuries when he was hit by a lorry.
Residents along Bescot Road, Walsall, are calling for a pedestrian crossing to be installed amid fears there could be a fatality.
They say there have been a number of crashes along the main route, with the latest accident seeing a 15-year-old knocked off his bike yesterday.
The teenager, who is believed to be from Pleck and a pupil at Wood Green Academy in Wednesbury, was taken to Walsall Manor Hospital.
His injuries are not believed to be life threatening but residents in Bescot Road claim a pedestrian crossing needs to be installed to reduce further crashes.
Father-of-five Shabir Hussain was one of the first on the scene after the crash near to the Slaters Lane junction. He has lived along the road, which is a main link between junction nine of the M6 at Wednesbury towards Pleck Road, for the last eight years.
Mr Hussain said: "As long as I have been here there have been half a dozen accidents. People tend to use it as a rat run. We haven't got any pedestrian crossings and it is a big issue."
"Any law-abiding resident or family member here would fear for the safety of young ones, the elderly and those that are frail crossing this road."
Kiran Vadukal lives opposite where the accident happened and been a resident in the road for 24 years. The 54 year-old said: "There have been a few accidents along here, there is a lot of motorway traffic."
The scene is less than a mile away from where a taxi controller died last week. Mohammed Imran Rashid, was killed after his car hit fencing and went down an embankment in Wednesbury Road.
