"Eight crashes in three months"
Calls have been made for action to be made at a Wimbledon town centre junction after reports of at least eight crashes in three months.
The accidents (see right) have taken place after a new metal bell bollard was installed at the junction of Wimbledon Hill Road and Worple Road in mid-November.
Staff at Haart estate agents, which overlooks the junction, say they have witnessed eight cars crash into the bollard during working hours.
Lettings manager Sarah Davies has written to Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond following the latest incident, which took place on Friday (February 3).
After colliding with the bollard, the woman driver in the most recent accident had to be cut out of her car because she was suffering from neck injuries. Her vehicle was said to have come close to tipping over on its roof. Fortunately her 11-year-old daughter was unharmed.
Sarah Davies told Mr Hammond: "We have witnessed eight cars crashing into this bollard when turning right from the hill onto Worple Road.
"These accidents have all occurred during business hours so I am sure there have been more than this. Most of the incidents have also happened at twilight or when it is dark.
"To date there has been no action taken to ensure that this bollard is made more visible or the junction altered.
"My opinion is that the pedestrian crossing island is positioned too far forward at the junction so when people cut the corner to turn right they do not see the black metal bollard. It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or worse."
Mr Hammond has since told her he will be writing to Merton council about the problem.
A Merton council spokesman said: "Merton Council takes road safety extremely seriously and is concerned at the recent incident at this junction.
"This junction is very busy so we have added new road markings already to highlight the presence of the traffic island and further road markings will be provided to guide right-turning traffic safely around it. The police are investigating the incident and council engineers will work closely with them to identify the cause of the incident."
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February 8, 2012