LOCALS have revealed they’re too scared to let their grandkids play outside due to reckless drivers speeding down the road.
Residents say thoughtless motorists even go down the WRONG way to overtake buses and bin lorries on the two-way carriageway outside their homes.
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The route is so dangerous, some are too scared to let their kids walk outside alone for fear of getting hit.
Norcot Road in Reading, Berkshire, is a stone’s throw away from SIX schools – making the school run a nightmare.
Parents say it’s only a matter of time before there’s a nasty crash.
Grandmother Carole Smith, 48, told The Sun: “It’s really dangerous around here.
“The cars come down here way too fast. You can stand on the pavement for five minutes just trying to cross.
“Two or three times a week you hear a car come up and hit the curb outside my house.
“Then you hear them pull up because they burst their tyres.”
Reading Borough Council have approved plans for a zebra crossing on the road.
“The crossing is a good idea as long as it’s made really obvious because they come down here so fast,” Carole added.
“If you’re at that crossing and you think you’re OK to cross… a lot of kids will use that crossing for school.
“My granddaughter is nine and she lives with me. I take her to school every morning.
“It’s such a fast road and no one takes any notice of the speed limit.
“My other grandchild, my grandson, is 13. I wouldn’t let him out around here.”
Carole’s neighbour Simon House, 52, echoed her concerns.
“That alleyway is the entrance to Morlands School. Loads of kids come through there,” he said.
“My son is 11, he comes through there.
“I never let him come down this road by himself.
“There are five schools around here and all the kids come around this way.”
BOY RACERS
Gary Cook, 61, lives around the corner from Norcot Road – but catches the bus from the busiest point.
The grandad – whose youngest grandchild is just two – said: “It’s terrible down here. For mums crossing with their kids it’s awful.
“They come whizzing around here.
“You have to be so quick crossing on the islands in the middle of the road.
“I’ve got grandkids and I don’t want to bring them to the shops around here.”
Mum Mary Collins, 38, regularly walks down Norcot Road with her one-year-old daughter.
She said: “It’s such a busy road, it’s dangerous. Trying to cross with three kids isn’t easy.
“The pram doesn’t fit on the islands in the road that are there now.”
Mum Tiarnah Ashby, 22, picks up her son Riley from a nursery close by.
She told the Sun: “Crossing on this road is really scary. I have to be really cautious.
“People going down here drive really, really fast. Stupidly fast.
“Cars overtake on the wrong side of the road, it happens a lot. It’s so dangerous.
“There’s oncoming traffic – and with them going so fast anyway… there’s going to be a collision.”
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Hannah Rogers, 30, walks along the road with her niece Ada, two.
“It’s a dangerous road,” she added.
“There’s only enough room on the island in the road for yourself and a tiny little one.
“It’s scary.”
Stuart Bristoe, 28, who has three kids aged five, four and two, added: “It’s not safe. It needs a zebra crossing to make it safe.
“There’s a bus stop further down that needs to be moved as well.
“Buses come around the corner and boom. I’ve seen cars going in the back of buses.
“You never know what’s going to come round. The island in the middle of the road isn’t enough when you’ve got kids.
“You try to get a pushchair in that gap and it’s not going to fit. Either I’m sticking out or the pushchair is sticking out.
“One of us isn’t safe. I’m glad they’ve now approved it.”
His partner – who asked not to be named – said: “I don’t like crossing with the kids here.”
Colin Simmonds, 56, lives on Norcot road with his kids aged 16 and 12.
He said: “I think there’s going to be a serious accident here one day.
“Especially coming out of my driveway.”
Mum-of-four Paula Knight, 42, added: “They come down here way too fast. I have to keep more of an eye on the kids.
“At night it’s even worse.”
A Reading Borough Council spokesperson said: “A community consultation found more than double the number of respondents supported the plans than objected to them, as a result the Council will proceed with the proposals.”
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