We’re furious as selfish drivers drive TWICE the speed limit as we cross the road to school – it’s like playing chicken
SCHOOL run mums have revealed they are “dicing with death” on a nightmare road where speed demons hurtle 20mph over the limit.
Parents say crossing busy Beake Avenue in Coventry is like “playing chicken” as they dodge zooming cars to get to school with no crossing.
They have demanded council bosses take urgent action to put safety measures in place – before tragedy strikes.
Gran Gill Barratt-Davies, 62, said: “I’ve witnessed loads of accidents over the years on this road.
“It’s just horrendous – a complete nightmare.
“It’s meant to be 30mph but cars just whizz down here with no regard for the speed limit.”
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More than 600 residents have signed a petition demanding pedestrian crossings on the 30mph road.
Locals say they are concerned about a busy junction, near to a primary school, where there are no pedestrian crossing buttons.
Gill, a carer, added: “Drivers are constantly going through red lights. I turn left to go home and even when the light turns green, someone will hurtle across.
“There are parents and children, and old people, just dicing with death crossing the junction.
“My elderly mother crosses it with her walking stick and she doesn’t have enough time to get to the other side and the drivers aren’t paying any attention.”
The Sun Online saw lorries jump red lights and a car driving on the wrong side of the road as parents prepared to pick their children up from nearby Whitmore Park primary school.
Childminder Claire Ruddock, 46, compared crossing the road to ‘chicken’ – where youngsters dare each other to get to the other side in front of passing cars.
It’s like playing ‘chicken’ when you were a kid. You’re taking your life into your own hands.”
Claire Ruddock
“The drivers don’t stop and they can be doing silly speeds.
“Because there’s no pedestrian crossing you can’t even teach the children about the green cross code. There’s no button to press, or a green man to wait for.
“Even the adults don’t really know when it’s safe to cross.
“We used to have a lollipop man but now you’ve just got to get to the other side as quickly as you can.
“It’s not safe – it’s an accident just waiting to happen.”
Mum-of-four Sebeer Aomeer, 46, said: “They’re doing 40 to 50mph down here while there are kids walking to and from school.
“I’m worried about my kids.
“There are other roads nearby with average speed cameras where are less children. So why aren’t they on this road?
‘SOMETHING MUST BE DONE’
The 600-strong petition was delivered to the council and debated at a meeting earlier this month.
A spokesperson for Coventry City Council said: “We are aware of the concerns of local residents regarding Beake Avenue, as expressed in the petition that has been submitted to the Council, and will be reviewing the issues raised to identify whether improvements to this junction are required.
“The safety of our residents and all road users is a primary consideration and we invest in targeted measures to improve road safety according to a prioritised methodology that achieve the greatest impact.
“We are intending to upgrade the signals at this location next year and will include pedestrian facilities here too. We will be responding to the petition on this matter once our review has been completed”.
Locals say they have flagged safety concerns to Coventry City Council for years – but nothing has ever been done.
Residents say Beake Avenue, where a kids’ nursery and residential care home is based, is also blighted by long queues of traffic at peak hours.
Sheila Owens, who gathered the signatures, said new crossings would help avoid or reduce the risk of injuries to people crossing the road.
“By implementing a traffic reduction scheme we can avoid, or at least, reduce the potential for injury or near miss incidents or even worse,” she said.
“Especially at peak times, the volume of traffic is so great with long queues building up.
“This makes it very difficult and dangerous specially for elderly and school children to cross the road on their way to school and the same after school,” she added.
Mum-of-two Ahmed Muhammed, 32, added: “It’s very dangerous and the cars go very fast. If a child runs out, you wouldn’t have any time to react.
“We all worry that there could be an accident and something could go really wrong.”
Residents want to see a pelican junction put in place and pedestrian crossings elsewhere on Beake Avenue.
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Katy Jaggard, 37, who has three children at the primary school, added: “They’ve put speed cameras down the next road where you can barely move because of the congestion.
“But this road is definitely fast. It’s dangerous with so many children around.”