High-speed smash sparks calls for action on road in Batley

People living in steep and winding Commonside fear someone will be killed or seriously injured unless action is taken.

A Seat car – said by residents to be travelling well in excess of the speed limit – lost control on a bend just up from the former Black Labrador pub and smashed into a parked car.

The parked car then shunted into another. In all, four cars were badly damaged. It is believed at least two will have to be written off.

One of the parked cars, a Peugeot, smashed through a garden wall and into the front yard of a terraced house. The Seat, which was going downhill, ended up facing the wrong way on the wrong side of the road.

Police and fire crews attended the scene of the drama, which happened just after 11pm on Monday, May 24.

Residents say the driver of the Seat was hurt along with a passenger who was bleeding and fell unconscious for a time. Both were taken to hospital by ambulance.

One of the residents, Paul Ward, 51, said: “It was a scene of devastation.

“I thought at first people might have been killed. All the neighbours came out and it was like a war zone.”

Paul said there had been a similar smash on the same stretch in 2019 in which a pedestrian suffered life-changing crush injuries.

At the time he had reported what had happened to the authorities and asked for help in seeking road safety measures, only to be told nothing could be done because “no-one has died”.

Paul added: “This road is like a race track and we need traffic calming measures.

“We just want to save someone’s life.”

Paula Davis, 56, was asleep on the sofa when the car crashed through her garden wall.

“I looked out and it was carnage,” she said. “What if I had been outside putting something in the bin? Lives could be lost.

“You lay in bed and you can hear them racing up and down this road at mental speeds. We have been talking about this for years but nothing gets done.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Police were called to reports of a road traffic collision at Commonside, Batley, shortly before 11.30pm on Monday, May 24.

“Officers from the Roads Policing Unit attended and found a vehicle had collided with five stationary vehicles. Two people were injured and taken to hospital. Injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances.”