Waters Lane - another tragic accident waiting to happen?

After the tragic death of 11-year old Sam Riddall in a traffic accident on Eastfield Road, earlier this year, questions are being asked about the safety of that stretch of road, right down to Waters Lane and the Westbury village roundabout.

Walking out of my door on Waters Lane every day, there is a graphic reminder of how potentially dangerous that stretch of road can be. The wall outside my house was shattered a while ago by a lorry which lost control as it drove down the hill, round the bend. It's a good thing I wasn't putting out the recycling or I might not be here to type this now.

And I suspect that a number of people who have walked up Waters Lane, or parked along that stretch of road have had the nasty experience of a bus, lorry or car hurtling down that hill, a bit close for comfort.

Then late last Thursday night, car alarms and general kerfuffle prompted me to go outside and see what all the fuss was about; It turned out that a car's handbrake had failed, it had rolled down the hill, straight into my parked car. To be honest, it's probably a good thing my car was in its path, or things could have been a lot more dangerous, had it carried on rolling down the hill into the village...

But hand-brake failures do happen, its unlikely traffic calming measures would have prevented this particular incident, and cars and broken walls can be mended - but sadly, people often can't.

These two potentially very dangerous incidents are a stark reminder of how dangerous Westbury on Trym traffic can be, and how important it is to make these roads safer before another tragic accident strikes.

I'd be interested to hear your views on this: Do you also think Waters Lane and Eastfield Road are traffic black-spots? What solutions do you think might work? Join the discussion and add your comment.

And as a final PS. I would just like to thank everyone in the Mouse Pub for being so kind and coming out to help during the car-hand-brake incident. Much appreciated.