Redesigned Birmingham junction an 'accident waiting to happen'

Nov 25 2009 by Sophie Cross, Birmingham Mail

A VIDEO posted on a website offered a chilling warning ahead of a serious car crash, it has emerged.

The post, dubbed “an accident waiting to happen”, was put on YouTube in September showing hazardous driving at the Bosworth Drive junction near Chelmsley Wood’s new Asda supermarket.

Four men were taken to hospital when their car collided with a lorry at the junction on November 11.

A 17-year-old youth suffered “numerous serious injuries” and is due to be released from Heartlands Hospital this week.

A 20-year-old front-seat passenger suffered a broken leg, while a teenage passenger and the driver, in his 20s, were given hospital treatment.

The video footage shows apparent confusion in turning at the lights.

Now it has emerged other drivers have suffered accidents at the same traffic lights which recently replaced a roundabout system.

Poster ‘grasmatas’ wrote: “I wrote my car off doing the very same right hand turn thinking the road was clear and was waved across by the car in front of me.”

‘Misssweetbabylove123’ called the road a “death trap” and claimed her six-year-old daughter suffered a head injury there two months ago when a car struck hers at 45mph

Ted Richards, Solihull Council’s cabinet member for transport and highways, said: “We were concerned to hear about the recent accident at this junction, which is the first incident at this location where anybody has been injured.

“We have, as with all new layouts, been monitoring this junction and have proposals to change the sequence of the traffic lights. This should prevent a similar accident from happening again.”