Birmingham is days away from a tragic one-year road anniversary – and city residents are being urged to take part in a major protest to demand action.
A growing number of communities are demanding that authorities move faster to address the city’s road safety emergency, which was declared on July 31 last year.
Better Streets for Birmingham is marking the anniversary in Victoria Square this Friday – and residents have been asked to join the calls for a crackdown on car-related violence on Birmingham’s roads.
READ MORE: Birmingham resident considers leaving area over ‘appalling speeds’ as protest hits Moseley
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The campaign group said it was encouraged to read recently-released figures by West Midlands Police and the crime commissioner showing an 18 per cent reduction in deaths or serious injuries in crashes on our roads in the first half of 2025 – but more needed to be done.
Council leaders have been accused of achieving ‘too little’ since declaring the road safety emergency – with campaigners urging council chiefs to achieve the 16 recommendations that were set for it by a cross-party scrutiny inquiry in January.
The Victoria Square event will start at 5pm and will be followed by a cycle ride around the city centre at 6pm.
A spokesperson said: “Better Streets for Birmingham does not accept deaths and serious injuries due to crashes on our roads are inevitable.
Better Streets For Birmingham stage protest at the junction of Stratford Road and Fox Hollies Road in Hall Green -Credit:Reporter
“We will continue to support the growing number of residents and campaign groups from right across the city calling for urgent action to make roads safer.
“Over the past few months, residents have shared their experiences of road danger with us. They tell us about daily lives blighted by speeding, aggressive and dangerous driving, and unsafe overtaking. lives have needlessly been lost on our roads – tearing families apart and devastating communities.
“In July 2024, Better Streets for Birmingham wrote an open letter to Birmingham City Council, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, West Midlands Police, and West Midlands Mayor calling for a road safety emergency to be declared following a collision which killed a pedestrian in Jewellery Quarter in July 2024 and multiple other deaths and serious injuries caused by crashes on our roads.
“Birmingham City Council went on to declare a Road Safety Emergency on July 31, 2024.
“Since then, a further 22 lives have been lost, and many hundreds more people have been seriously injured due to crashes on our roads. This is not progress; it is a continuing crisis.”
Better Streets for Birmingham road safety demo at the junction of Alcester Road and Salisbury Road on Saturday July 26 -Credit:Better Streets for Birmingham
Martin Price, chair of Better Streets for Birmingham, said “We cautiously welcome the downward trend in the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads but we continue to campaign for the changes necessary for there to be no deaths or serious injuries due to crashes.
“Residents and community groups from across the city are increasingly turning to us for support to highlight how dangerous driving is negatively affecting their daily lives and to help make moving around Birmingham safer.
“Declaring the road safety emergency was the easy part. As we mark its first anniversary, we now need to see policy and action plans turn into realities.
“And for our public bodies to work collectively and urgently to deliver the promised preventative and enforcement measures.”
Other community organisations are using public demonstrations to send a stark message over dangerous roads – with a series of active protests taking place in July.
Green Lane Mosque staged a live-action mock crash scene on Friday July 25 to a crowd of residents in attempts to crack down on issues blighting the area, which include speeding, drivers taking nitrous oxide balloons and reckless parking.
Around 100 people gathered to watch the event with more than 4,000 tuning in for the online sermon, read more on that here.
The recovery of a road traffic accident victim is reconstructed in Morrisons car park by Green Lane Mosque in front of a crowd. This is being done in order to deter people from driving over the speed limit or under the influence of nitrous oxide, drugs or alcohol. -Credit:Birmingham Live
On Saturday, a frustrated Birmingham resident said she was considering leaving Moseley over the “appalling speeding” blighting the neighbourhood.
Celia Palmer was joined by around 60 worried residents to stage a protest on July 26.
Moseley resident Celia said: “Residents including myself are consistently appalled at the speeding around Moseley that is endangering lives, to the extent that I have considered leaving the area.
“The issue needs to be taken seriously before yet another tragedy happens.”
Drivers also sounded their horns and gave the thumbs to a Better Streets demo at the junction of Stratford Road and Fox Hollies Road in Hall Green on July 13.
There have been countless fatalities on the A34 with locals branding the stretch to Poppy Island a racetrack.
Ethan Akotiah, 22, who lives off Stratford Road, said: “It’s terrible, it’s getting worse and worse.
“My nan was in a collision and so was my mom. It’s constant and the parking on the red lines is terrible.
“People can be aggressive and I fear for my family’s life. Hopefully the speed camera will make a difference.”
Earlier this month, roads cabinet member Coun Majid Mahmood said the focus of the council had been on ‘delivering real change’.
He cited a series of actions that had been achieved to reduce harm on the roads, including:
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Reintroducing red light cameras at landmark locations
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Investing £500,000 to deter dangerous driver behaviour
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Rolling out more average speed cameras at priority locations, backed by a £5 million investment
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Trialling new camera sites in the autumn to ensure safer junctions and crossings, supported by over £675,000 in funding
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Holding regular post-collision response meetings
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Investing £2.5m to deliver any recommended targeted infrastructure interventions