{"id":13117,"date":"2025-04-12T07:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T07:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/13117\/"},"modified":"2025-04-12T07:30:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T07:30:17","slug":"ex-police-chief-says-solihull-road-is-like-living-on-a-race-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/13117\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex police chief says Solihull road is like &#8216;living on a race track&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Anger at &#8220;lack of action&#8221; to deal with dangerous speeding on Church Hill Road<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1_Mike-Doyle.jpg\" alt=\"Mike Doyle, a former chief superintendent at West Midlands Police makes the plea over speeding in Church Hill Road at the Solihull Council meeting\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Mike Doyle, a former chief superintendent at West Midlands Police makes the plea over speeding in Church Hill Road at the Solihull Council meeting(Image: Sam Greenway LDR)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">An angry former police chief compared his street to a &#8220;race track&#8221; because of the number of drivers putting lives at risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mike Doyle, a former chief superintendent at <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/west-midlands-police\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">West Midlands Police<\/a>, said families were choosing to leave Church Hill Road in <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/solihull\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Solihull<\/a> because of the \u201cpotential disaster unfolding before our eyes\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mr Doyle, who has lived in the street for more than 20 years, branded the situation a &#8220;disgrace&#8221; and claimed not enough action had been taken following crashes in the road, which is near the town centre.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">READ MORE<\/strong>: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/council-leader-says-flytipping-risks-31387691\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Council leader says there are &#8216;flytipping risks&#8217; for Solihull as bin strike continues<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Get breaking news on <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/HiSLU1pMS4WIRGDRbnDYAf\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">BirminghamLive WhatsApp<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He told borough councillors: &#8220;What we have here, at best, is apathy and indifference and, at worst, a total abbreviation of responsibilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWe did not agree to live within the confines of a racetrack and that is what Church Hill Road has become.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mr Doyle, who was supported by a number of residents in the public gallery, highlighted three crashes he said showed the \u201cgravity\u201d of the problem:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"UnorderedList_unordered-list__gzblI\">\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 ENBBt\">A crash in which a car \u201cflew down\u201d the road, lost control and \u201cembedded itself in the home of a resident\u201d<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 ENBBt\">Another high-speed crash in which a car overtook another into oncoming traffic, lost control, veered and smashed into the pavement at the junction of Whitefields Road. \u201cThe tyres exploded due to the power of the impact and the vehicle was catapulted into the carriageway\u201d, Mr Doyle said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"UnorderedList_unordered-list__gzblI\">\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 ENBBt\">The third, described as the \u201cmost disturbing\u201d, was when a car flipped onto its roof, demolishing two trees and smashing into a lamppost which was propelled into a resident\u2019s garden &#8211; all witnessed by parents with young children.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mr Doyle said he wanted councillors to imagine the carnage and potential loss of life, adding: \u201cThis is the potential disaster unfolding before our eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cI have spoken to a number of residents &#8211; they have recounted sometimes multiple incidents of reckless speed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cI personally know of residents who have moved away and two families who are seriously considering moving because of the anxiety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWe need a key stakeholder to champion meaningful change, we need to put in place effective heavy-duty speed ramps either end of Church Hill Road to influence driver behaviour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWe need a robust enforcement strategy to seize vehicles in a manner causing alarm, distress or annoyance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cThis is a time to get off the back foot or we see deaths on this road.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Coun Ken Hawkins, <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/solihull-council\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Solihull Council&#039;Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Solihull Council&#8217;<\/a>s cabinet portfolio holder for environment and infrastructure, said: &#8220;Obviously the enforcement of speed offences is a police matter.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_Church-Hill-Road.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>(Image: Google Maps)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cFor local roads I think it is about time local authorities had that in their powers, and leave police to deal with key routes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWhat you say is real but Solihull roads are the safest in the West Midlands, one of the safest in the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make things right when you have people racing recklessly and causing people\u2019s safety to be at risk.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The councillor said he would raise the issues with police, adding: \u201cWe will be taking this further.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A West Midlands Police spokesperson said the force was \u201caware of community concerns\u201d and had increased police patrols locally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Insp Tom Clayton, from Solihull Local Policing Area, added: &#8220;We&#8217;ve been working with partners and carrying out proactive patrols and operations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;This partnership approach is vital and involves everyone from local speedwatch groups to the local authority and colleagues from our roads policing unit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cAnyone concerned about speeding and dangerous driving can report it to us via 101.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mr Doyle spoke at the latest full council meeting held at the Civic Suite on April 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anger at &#8220;lack of action&#8221; to deal with dangerous speeding on Church Hill RoadMike Doyle, a former chief&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,2671,8919,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-13117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-solihull","13":"tag-solihull-council","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}