DRIVERS are being warned to take care in Hull's Victoria Dock after a car lost control and came to rest inches from a family living room. The white Kia Sorento was being driven by a father with his two children in the back.
The car skidded off the highway, went through a metal fence and hit the brick front of the flats in South Bridge Road. Now neighbours are warning motorists to be careful on the street, which is used by scores of pupils walking to Victoria Dock Primary School.
Andrew Matthews, who walks his dog in the area, said: "It is only a matter of time until a pedestrian or child is seriously injured or even killed by a speeding vehicle on this road. I have raised this issue at the local residents meeting before and nearly all present agreed it is a problem. Many don't want traffic calming measures such as speed bumps installing on South Bridge road because of the damage it can cause to their cars."
The crash happened on Thursday last week as families fought to protect their homes from flooding. Water came close to the edge of the road and another homeowner, who did not want to be named, said he believed the chaos contributed to what happened.
He said: "I think the driver lost control. I don't think speed was a factor."
Hull councillor Gary Wareing lives opposite the flats which were hit and said although the circumstances of the collision were unusual, he did believe traffic was sometimes a danger. Cllr Wareing, who represents Drypool ward, suggested the problem stemmed from commuters using South Bridge Road as a shortcut to avoid Castle Street at rush hour.
He said: "We would prefer it if the traffic was local traffic, not cut-through traffic. We want to encourage local traffic to use the road responsibly and not to speed down South Bridge Road. Don't use Victoria Dock as a cut-through – it doesn't reduce people's journey times, all it does is block the road."
The car's driver lost control at 7.25pm, less than 20 minutes before tides in the Humber estuary reached their peak. Police believe he was taken ill at the wheel and swerved to avoid another vehicle and a pedestrian.
Cllr Wareing said: "I'm not entirely sure what happened. I did hear a conversation saying the car swerved to miss something else. It was at the height of the tide and there were an awful lot of people on the streets. Some people were moving their cars from the streets closest to the river so there was a lot of extra traffic about."
Victoria Dock homeowners have been against introducing speedbumps or chicanes to slow traffic down, fearing damage to their cars. But Cllr Wareing warned if motorists continued speeding there might be no other option.
He said: "We looked at introducing safety measures to stop it – like speedbumps or signs – but we don't want to do that because it would restrict traffic. We've had all the road markings re-done down the centre of South Bridge Road, it's hash-marked and there are keep left signs to stop overtaking. It's a road that's well-used, and I think we won't go down the speed bump route, but if it becomes dangerous we will have to look again."
South Bridge Road last saw a major crash in 2010, when rubbish spilled out of a 30-tonne lorry after it failed to turn along a roundabout. Its 53-year-old driver suffered a dislocated shoulder.
