‘Death-trap’ road toll of lives lost in hit-and-runs
THREE people have been killed and 52 more injured along a notorious ‘death-trap’ Birmingham road.
West Midlands Police were called to the scene of 78 collisions in Washwood Heath Road in the past five years, according to a Freedom of Information request to the force.
And many drivers, a total of 48, failed to stop at the scene of the crashes. Residents have urgently been calling for speed cameras and other measures.
The family of Irshad Begum, who died after she was ‘thrown up like a rag doll’ by a hit-and-run driver, have received almost 900 signatures on a petition to make the street safer.
Of the 78 collisions, three were fatal, 52 saw injuries and 23 were non-injury, latest data from police revealed.
A total of 48 collisions, including injury and non-injury, were classed as ‘non-stop collisions’, where the driver failed to stop at the scene.
The family of Mrs Begum, who was 80, previously told how she was
found roughly 30 yards down Washwood Heath Road after being struck by a motorist who carried on driving.
Short-sighted Amaan Isa, who was banned and uninsured at the time, was speeding along without his glasses when he ploughed into the pensioner and fled.
The 28-year-old, of Station Road in Erdington, was jailed for six years and eight months for dangerous driving,
taking a vehicle without consent, driving without insurance and while disqualified.
Last December, a 19-yearold man was pronounced dead at the scene after a car overturned on the same major road. Cyclist and great-grandfather Andell Goulbourne was also killed in a hit-andrun while cycling on the route.
Responding to the figures from Washwood Heath Road, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said: “I want to ensure that as a priority, there are fewer people killed and seriously injured on our roads, so that we achieve the United Nations General Assembly target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2030.
“It is essential that drivers responsible for hit-and-run collisions, causing death and serious injury, are traced as soon as possible and held to account through the criminal justice system.”
New data obtained by Mr Foster for the most serious hit-andruns, involving serious or fatal injuries, revealed there had been six such collisions in 2022 to date in the region with one conviction and five in the criminal justice process.
In 2021, there were ten serious or fatal hit-and-runs, five of which led to convictions. In three cases, offenders have not been traced, one was subject to no further action and another is still going through the criminal justice process.