Protesters are calling for Birmingham to declare a road safety emergency

Last Sunday, a 60-year-old man was killed and another pedestrian was injured when a driver plowed into a sidewalk in the Jewelry District, just outside the city center.

Earlier in the year, a four-year-old child was killed on the pavement by an “unfit” driver while walking home with their mother.

Since the start of the year, 10 people have been killed and 23 seriously injured in Birmingham due to dangerous driving.

Better Streets Birmingham chairman Mat MacDonald told GB News “our roads are in crisis”.

He said: “Someone dies on our roads every fortnight in a collision, but the effects go beyond the tragedy for those individuals, their families and their communities, to everyone who has to walk our streets.

“People are in a perpetual state of anxiety about speeding cars, lack of enforcement, people always running red lights, using their cell phones while driving and speeding through residential areas.

“We will not back down from our calls for safer streets in this city.”

West Midlands Police say officers will carry out high visibility patrols and deploy a range of resources to deter and detect dangerous driving behaviour.

In the region alone, more than 5,300 drivers were caught committing “Fatal Four” offenses last year. 2,648 were arrested for driving under the influence, 1,290 drivers were caught speeding, 480 were caught not wearing a seat belt and 942 were caught using mobile phones.

However, despite increased police resources on the issue, both Better Streets for Birmingham and Birmingham City Council are calling for the force to declare a state of emergency on the issue.

In a letter to West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford yesterday, Councilor Majid Mahmood said: “We believe a road safety emergency needs to be declared and are calling for a Gold Command to be raised immediately to co-ordinate a multi-agency response. “

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport called for measures such as: increasing traffic enforcement, reducing speed limits from 40mph to 30mph and implementing pilot schemes with temporary measures to “make the road environment safer”.

Following the calls from the local council, newly elected West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said: “I have promised to do whatever it takes to prevent people being tragically and avoidably killed and seriously injured on our roads. I intend to fulfill this promise.”

As well as confirming meetings with local leaders to discuss the issue, Parker added: “I will be raising this issue with Transport Secretary Louise Haigh in our meeting next week.”