This is the dramatic moment tensions erupted between road safety protesters and a motorist taking a child to hospital. The demonstrators invaded a busy city centre road amid a “crisis on Birmingham’s roads” which has seen three tragedies in just five days.
The protest, organised by Better Streets for Birmingham, brought together around 40 people to demand urgent action to end road accidents in the city. They demonstrated at Old Snow Hill traffic lights, close to where a man in his 60s was tragically killed.
They marched with “No More Deaths” signs as the lights turned green for pedestrians (red for traffic) and stopped for about 30 seconds at a time before returning to the sidewalks. But at one of the first protests, a driver told them they had to go to an appointment because there was a baby in the car.
READ MORE: ‘A year on from schoolchildren’s tragedy, nothing has changed on Birmingham’s seven-lane monstrosity’
As they continued to stand on the road, the driver of the car began yelling at the protesters and was warned by one of them: “You’re on camera.” Despite the warning, he was seen getting out of the car and saying: “You better move because I swear to God someone else is going to get killed.”
He continued: “Move now. I have a baby in the car that needs to be taken to the hospital. Don’t stay on the road or you will be killed.” He then slammed his door and started to drive away, despite the protesters in his path.
One of the protesters was seen shouting at the driver. The protester later told BirminghamLive he was not scared but was unsure what could have happened.
Protester Colin Nimmo said: “I can take care of myself. But like everyone else, I don’t want to go to the emergency room because it’s not a pleasant experience.
Looking back on the day, he said: “It went well, there were a couple of very impatient drivers, a couple who I don’t know what their problems were but there was no reason for them to be aggressive. Hopefully we’ll sort out the infrastructure, it won’t happen overnight but there are a number of things that need to be done, like Glasgow where I’m from is changing fantastically and following a plan… Birmingham needs to wake up.”
The protest came as the issue was described as a “crisis on Birmingham’s roads” and Better Streets for Birmingham called for a state of emergency due to the number of tragedies. Some drivers showed their support for the protest, while others were heard honking their horns at traffic. One was also seen driving on the wrong side of the road to get around the protest – although he only got out when the pedestrian light was green.
Speaking at the protest, the group’s chairman Mat MacDonald told BirminghamLive: “We are here today because our roads are in crisis. Someone is killed in a collision every two weeks on the city’s streets. We are here to say to those in power: ‘This is not good enough, we do not accept that this is the reality we live in’. We will not accept any more excuses as to why this cannot change.”
“There are places in the world where we have achieved what is called Vision Zero: no one is killed or seriously injured in a collision. The recipe is simple: we know what needs to be done, we no longer need kind words or promises, we need action, and we need it now.”
Read more about the event here.
