Living in the danger zone - Black Country accident blackspots revealed

In Walsall, people living in Coalpool Lane, Coalpool, want speed limits lowered and 'anything that will work' following multiple crashes over the years.

Carpet fitter Anthony Halls, aged 49, has had two vans written off in the past five years by cars hitting them where they are parked.

The father of three said: "My son lives down the road with his kids, and I'm always concerned when they are coming up to my house or going home.

"The worst time is always after midnight. That's when people tear down here.

"The first time I lost a van, a Mercedes Sprinter, it was a drunk driver doing about 80mph.

"The last one was about five months ago, and someone just came around the corner and hit it.

"We've had parking bays put down, there's a pedestrian crossing, but it doesn't make a difference."

Last week, a parked car was thrown 50 yards through the air and into a hedge when it was hit by an Alfa Romeo.

The Peugeot 206 belonging to 44-year-old trainee nurse Sue Corley was the eighth car she has had written off due to smashes along the road during the 20 years she has lived there.

She is moving house in two months and said she 'could not take it any more'.

Firefighters were amazed that no-one was killed in the accident on June 8.

Despite its track record, Coalpool Lane is not officially the most dangerous road in the West Midlands.

That title belongs to the A451 between Stourbridge and Kidderminster.

The four-mile stretch of road has had 13 crashes in four years.

The road was named as the most 'high risk' in the West Midlands by the Road Safety Foundation.

Calls for action following deaths and serious injuries have been heeded in Delves and Caldmore.

New kerbside detectors have been installed in West Bromwich Road in Delves and at Caldmore Green.

The hi-tech systems cancel the request for the lights to turn red if the pedestrian has already crossed the road.

It means cars do not stop and there are fewer cases of vehicles speeding up to get across before the lights change.

Some residents have previously said it can be difficult to cross West Bromwich Road due to the speed of some drivers.

Walsall Council has also said signal improvements at the junction at Walstead Road are being planned.

A change to the junction layout to create two lanes – one for turning right – at the junction of Walstead Road has also been earmarked.

In November 2011, brothers Asif Javed, 23, and 18-year-old Naveed Aslam were killed in a crash on West Bromwich Road.

A 29-year-old man was seriously injured after the car he was in crashed into a lamp post in the road on March 13.

Another street where people have found their homes are not safe from passing cars is Pensnett Road in Brierley Hill.

Last October, a Toyota MR2 sports car left the road and skidded more than 100ft along a grass embankment before smashing through a fence and into the kitchen of a house.

Rebecca Poyner, 17, had been mixing milk for her five-month-old son in the kitchen, one minute before the car struck.

Her sister Stacey Havins was also in the house with her two-year-old daughter and two-month-old son, as was her mother Lesley Poyner, 48, and her three-year-old son.

It was believed that the female driver of the car lost control after crossing the bridge in Pensnett Road and hitting a kerb.

On the Cradley Road in Netherton, a 22-year-old Nissan driver suffered a head injury after a crash in October 2010. The car hit a house, and a wall running along the front of two properties was reduced to rubble by the impact.

Busy roads such as the A449 through South Staffordshire have also seen a number of narrow escapes. In May last year, a red Alfa Romeo ended up wedged on the barrier near the Gailey Island, close to the Spread Eagle pub, in Watling Street.

Just a week earlier, a man suffered head and chest injuries after being trapped in his Jaguar when it rolled over into a field.

On the other side of Wolverhampton, heading towards Stourbridge, the A449 has been the scene of serious injuries and death.

The section known as Penn Road has been the scene of numerous accidents including one in February 2012 when a man was left with severe leg, hip and spinal injuries when his Saab 900 turned onto its side.

More than 30 crashes were reported on the notorious road further along over the South Staffordshire border in three years.

Staffordshire Police said 33 smashes were recorded on a three-mile stretch of the A449 where it is called Stourbridge Road between January 2008 and November 2011.

Four, on the stretch of road between Penn and Himley, led to six people being killed.

Crashes were blamed on a number of issues including icy conditions, motorists hitting stationary vehicles, swerving to avoid an animal or a driver on the wrong side of the road.

Safety measures, including reduced speed limits and a new road layout, were installed in September 2009.

In May last year, the driver of a silver Toyota had to be cut free after colliding with a stationary lorry near to Billy Buns Lane, Wombourne, during the morning rush hour.

Trainee chartered accountant Anita Heer lost her life along with two friends in 2009. The Suparu Impreza in which she was a passenger turned over and hit a garden wall.

The car was travelling within what was then a 70mph speed limit.

Anita died along with 27-year-old Carillion workers Jaspal Virdee and Jasvinder Randhawa, and her family has since raised money for the NSPCC charity in her memory.

Anita's father Davinder Heer, 54, of Lower Street, Tettenhall, said: "What that road really needed was speed cameras. You hear about cameras being put in all sorts of daft places but not where they would save lives.

"The speed limit has been reduced but I don't think that was enough. I go down there on the anniversary of Anita's death, and I see people going at 70mph or more." he said.

Changes in road layouts have improved matters in some areas. A crossroad junction of Wolverhampton's A41 Wergs Road in Tettenhall was the scene of numerous crashes until action was taken around five years ago.

The dual carriageway near the junction of Keepers Lane and Woodthorne Road was reduced to a single lane.

Councillor Jonathan Yardley, who represents the area, said: "There was a bottleneck, and the council got rid of the dual carriageway as well as altering the layout of the bend. It's made a big difference."

Three cars smashed into the home of Tony Jones in the space of 10 years.

The 63-year-old and his wife Lyn, 62, came home to find a Volvo had left the road in the middle of the afternoon last December and crashed through their fence, demolished their porch and damaged their kitchen walls and hall.

Having lived in Goscote Place, Walsall, for more than 30 years, the grandfather of one has seen more than his fair share of damage.

Mrs Jones said: "There have been some zig-zag lines painted to stop people overtaking, and there are some tall trees that have been planted a little further up the road. I'd have preferred if some bollards could have been put in."

Councillor Adrian Andrew, who is in charge of transport in Walsall, says there are things that authorities can do but that ultimately, drivers have to slow down.

He said: "We can look at putting bollards in that can hopefully reduce the damage to property. But drivers have to take responsibility for themselves and for what they do with their cars."

Is your street plagued by accidents and collisions? Call our reporters on 01902 319410 or email newsdesk@expressandstar.co.uk