Express & Star

100mph motorists clocked on 40mph Birmingham New Road

It is one of the most notorious roads in the Black Country, which has seen cars mangled, people seriously injured and an unlucky few lose their lives.

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And today, the Express & Star can reveal the full extent of the speeding problem along the 40mph Birmingham New Road - with drivers clocked at up to 100mph.

The news comes less than a day after a pedestrian died after being struck by a car on the road.

Following a Freedom of Information request, we can reveal that over the past three years, reckless speeders have hit 97mph, 80mph and 79mph on the road.

The top speed recorded was 100mph, which a driver hit between the A463 junction at Coseley and Vicarage Road West, Tipton, last year.

A car is completely overturned in this road accident

Birmingham New Road stretches from the edge of Wolverhampton city centre to near the Birchley Island in Oldbury where it becomes the Wolverhampton Road.

The new figures have been revealed at a time when campaigners are calling for new traffic lights at the junction leading to Woodcroft Avenue on the border of Tipton and Dudley. Some 600 people have signed a petition in support of the safety measures.

A car crashed into a lamp post along the road, near Shaw Road

Councillor Ken Finch, who represents the Castle and Priory ward in Dudley, believes working speed cameras need to be brought back to the road to make drivers slow down. He also wants more police checks.

He said: "There have been concerns over that road for years and until someone comes up with something better, speed cameras have to be in place because they do make people think.

"I would also like to see more police checks rather than just random checks.

"There are a lot of naughty people about now, going above the speed limit and using their mobile phones and this just increases the chance of an accident more and more.

"Anyone doing that sort of speed deserves to have their licence taken off them and sent down. If they have an accident it is often not the one breaking the law who is hurt it is the innocent people doing nothing wrong that end up in hospital or worse."

An air ambulance leaves Birmingham New Road after an accident in Coseley

The 100mph speeder was caught by police last year. In 2013, a driver was also recorded travelling at 97mph, again between the A463 Vicarage Road West.

Another motorists was seen doing 80mph between the Burnt Tree junction and Tipton Road, while a year later a car was clocked travelling at 79mph at the same location.

The fastest speed recorded this year up to the end of September was 74mph, again between the Burnt Tree junction and Tipton Road.

Just last week, two people were taken to hospital after a smash at the road's junction with Shaw Road on the border of Wolverhampton and Coseley.

Both vehicles were severely damaged and long delays built up as the road was closed by police.

In another crash in August, five people were injured. Two people in one car and three in another suffered minor injuries in the collision.

And in June, two people were injured and a car ended up on its side following a crash at the junction between a Land Rover and Mercedes. Two were taken to New Cross Hospital with neck pain.

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