Two tragic crashes have struck the A20 Kidbrooke Park Road in Eltham within just a few weeks, claiming the lives of a heavily pregnant woman and a woman in her 60s.
The latest incident happened around 6.15pm yesterday (October 17), when a 38-year-old woman and her unborn baby died after a crash with an unmarked police car near Eltham Park Road.
Emergency services, including the London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade, and London’s Air Ambulance, attended the scene.
Despite their efforts, the woman and her baby could not be saved.
Her next of kin have been notified and are being supported by specially trained officers.
Earlier this month, a woman in her 60s was killed in a separate incident on Kidbrooke Park Road.
The crash between a motorbike and the pedestrian occurred just before 8.30am on October 1.
Despite the swift arrival of officers police and London Ambulance Service crews, the woman was pronounced dead shortly after.
The tragic incident heightened concerns among Kidbrooke residents about road safety.
Calls for improvements to Kidbrooke Park Road and its junction with Pegler Square grew louder, with many describing the area as a “lethal trap”.
Charlie Fancy, 25, has lived in Kidbrooke just over a year and often uses the junction with Pegler Square to take her daughter to the park.
She said speeding is a common issue in the area and several crossings on Kidbrooke Park Road could be managed better.
She said told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “It’s scary when you’re trying to cross the road, especially with a buggy because it’s just coming off of the [A2] motorway so cars come really fast around the corner.”
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said traffic in the area has become more prevalent as more homes have been built.
They said accidents can easily happen at the Pegler Square junction and she would like to see barriers being added to the road to protect pedestrians.
They added told the LDRS: “The main problem is people coming off the motorway at 50 miles per hour straight into an area with a nursery and two schools so it’s a bit of a lethal trap.”
Labour Councillor Sandra Bauer, representing the Kidbrooke Village and Sutcliffe ward for Greenwich Council, started a petition last week following the tragic incident.
The campaign calls on TfL, which manages Kidbrooke Park Road, to add speed reduction measures to the route’s junction with Pegler Square, with the petition having received over 300 signatures so far.
Cllr Bauer said told the LDRS: “It’s just really frustrating that this is still as bad as it is. It’s always been bad but it’s just got so much worse… The residents in these blocks facing it – and there are a lot of them – will cite the noise of traffic, the screech of brakes a lot of the time – the noise that a speeding vehicle will make.”
The ward councillor said residents have frequently voiced their concerns to her on the danger that the crossing poses to families in the area.
She added that she would like to see the road narrowed in an effort to relieve the volume of traffic that actively passes through the junction.
She said: “We need action now and we can’t wait. People will come back and tell you that in the longer term this will change but lives are being lost and we can’t have another family lose a member. It’s just horrific.”
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