An elderly woman whose house is located on an accident-prone street has said she fears for her life after three cars have crashed into her garden in three years.
Kate Hooper, 93, has had drivers repeatedly crashing through her garden fence in Droitwich, Worcestershire, along her street dubbed a “death trap”.
Her son John Hooper, 73, worries his mother’s life is at risk due to the number of crashes.
The first crash in her garden was in May 2020, the second in June 2022, and the most recent on September 12 this year.
Retired JCB driver John says his family have repeatedly complained to council highways bosses appealing for traffic calming measures but nothing has been done.
He claims reckless motorists are averaging 50mph along the 30mph street which has “no signage” warning drivers of the speed limit.
Mrs Hooper, a grandmother of ten, is now too frightened to let her grandchildren play in the garden in case another car crashes into her home.
John said: “The speed people come along that road is crazy. I’d usually say its like an accident waiting to happen by accidents are happening – so why has nothing been done about it? We’ve complained to highways multiple times over the last 12 months but absolutely nothing has changed.
“They even replied to us to say they didn’t believe the road needed traffic calming measures. Well, it clearly does. When there’s been four accidents in three years, including a fatal one, surely that’s enough evidence. I genuinely fear the worst for my elderly mother. The street is an absolute death trap.
“It is having an effect on her because when it happened the other day, and she called, she could barely speak. She was in such a state, and bearing in mind, she’s 93. It is having an effect on her as she’s getting more and more nervous and not wanting to sit in the garden.
“If she was sitting in her garden and a car crashed through, she would be killed.”
Mrs Hooper has lived on the corner of Alder Close for over 50 years but has only seen crashes in the last three. Speeding drivers have been ploughing into the property from Primsland Way, which the family say is in desperate need of road humps or a 20mph speed limit.
Neighbours have also warned their friends to use a footpath which runs along the houses rather than walk down the dangerous street.
John and his brother have been trying to get something done about the stretch of road for the past year out of fears of another fatal incident or a serious injury.
John, from Worcester, added: “We are angry, all my siblings are, and we are worried about her, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren because if they were in the garden, they would be involved in it as well.
“It would be serious injury or fatality, and that’s why we want to get it sorted.
“The neighbours come out if they see someone with kids or a pram and warn them its not safe to walk along the footpath. People are not safe outside their own homes.
“The average speed must be 50mph and its a 30mph zone. There’s no speed limit signs nearby, no sleeping policeman, just nothing to prevent these accidents from happening. It needs to be a 20mph road otherwise this accidents are going to keep on happening. It’s not right.”
Worcestershire County Council said they were now looking to implement a traffic calming scheme along the road. A council spokesperson said: “We are currently working with the local County Councillor to address concerns raised along Primsland Way.
“As a result, we will soon be rolling out a traffic calming scheme which includes additional signing and road markings.”
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