'It's just terrible' - West Bromwich MP explains why she backs Ben's Law campaign to ban street racing meets outright
A Black Country MP has backed our call for Ben's Law to tackle the scourge of street racing and car cruising.
Sarah Coombes, MP for West Bromwich, said she fully supported the Express & Star's petition for a blanket ban on street racing, in memory of 19-year-old Ben Corfield and 16-year-old Liberty Charris, who were killed by a speeding driver at a busy road in Oldbury in November 2022.
Miss Coombes, whose constituency includes some of the most notorious hotspots for unofficial race meets, said not a week went by when she did not receive complaints about unauthorised car meets and dangerous driving.
Ben's father, Councillor Damian Corfield, has called for a new law making it an offence to attend, organise or promote such events, and the Express & Star has launched a petition in support of Ben's Law which you can sign here: chng.it/SxpmYB8gZJ.
Kenrick Way, a major dual carriageway through West Bromwich, has long been notorious as one of the Black Country's biggest hotspots for street racing. Last week 37-year-old Scott Hill of Watchman Avenue, Quarry Bank, was given a 42-day suspended prison sentence for breaching a court injunction which bans street racing in the Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton local authority areas.
"It's just terrible," said Miss Coombes. "Every single week I get a complaint about street racing."
She said that for years residents in Kenrick Way had been forced to endure the menace, but added that it was becoming a problem right across the constituency.
"We have had young people lose their lives, and it is a nightmare for many of the people who live in West Bromwich," she said.
"It's dangerous and anti-social for residents when at 2am you can have 50 cars racing past your window."
Miss Coombes said that while the injunction was a useful tool, it often just moved the problem elsewhere, and a blanket ban would prevent that from happening.
"I would definitely support a ban on street racing," she said.
"We need new laws, but we also need more enforcement, I have been working with West Midlands Police.
"The problem is that by the time police arrive, about eight minutes after receiving the calls, the racers are nowhere to be seen."
Miss Coombes has raised the growing issue of 'ghost' number plates in Parliament, which are used to evade police speed cameras.
"I told the police I wanted to see a speed camera installed at one of the hotspots, and they said 'even if we put the speed camera there, we can't read the number plates at night'.
"Despite that, I would still like to see more speed cameras. I do think we need very serious penalties. The Government is making it easier to seize vehicles."
'I've seen them holding up ambulances at the start of a drag race' - resident
Jake Russell has had to live with years of disturbed sleep because from the noise of car racing taking place below his high-rise flat in Kenrick Way.
Mr Russell says more than 200 cars sometimes turn up to cause mayhem.
"The sound is horrific," he says. "I live six floors up behind triple glazing and I can hear them. First I hear them parking up on the industrial estate, then to the pub car park. And when I hear spectators turning up, I know we are in for a long night.
"There are sometimes up to 200 cars and people, the other night they were holding up ambulances because they were organising the start of a drag race.
"They are very social media savvy, these guys. When I am phoning 999, I know after 10pm there just is not the police resources, but they know it as well. They don't care if they eventually see blue lights. I have taken photos but have been threatened."
Circuits can vary but the racing usually takes in Kenrick Way, All Saints Way, in West Bromwich Manor Way in Halesowen, then through Cradley Heath and Dudley via the Birmingham New Road and onwards to Wolverhampton.
