Call for action at bend where drivers keep crashing
BBCResidents at a block of flats in Derby are calling for measures to make the road outside their homes safer after a third car crash in the space of a year.
A white BMW 3 series hit the corner of a building on the bend at the top of The Hollow in Littleover just after midnight on Sunday 1 November, damaging the outer wall of the building and leaving fluids from the engine running down the road.
"I thought we'd been bombed," said resident Colleen McCarroll.
The crash is the third in 2026, said flats operator Places for People, and now people in the area are asking for Derby City Council to look at changes to prevent further incidents there.
Steven Millward, 68, has lived in the ground floor flat at the corner for 23 years.
He said: "The bang, half of it must have woke me up and the other half I heard. It's happened so many times already I knew what it was.
"I went to my living room window and looked straight down at them. Steam and smoke was coming out of the front of the car and oil and antifreeze was running down on the road, both doors were open and drivers going by were stopping."
Derbyshire Police said a 28-year-old was arrested and charged with drink-driving following the crash, with the suspect due to appear before Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court in Derby on 23 November.
The crash a week ago was the third time a car had left the corner as The Hollow turns right into Old Hall Road.
Places for People said previous collisions at the bend had seen a window frame and a nearby sign damaged.
A lamp-post was also relocated away from the bend following an earlier collision - which Millward said had left the bend harder to spot for drivers after dark.
"You're going uphill here but it's a right angle bend and now there's no light poles up there," he said. "There's not even any signs on the road coming up saying that there's a steep curve at the top.
"People think when they come up The Hollow, because there's all trees and grass, that they're out in the country and they could drive 70 miles an hour - it's not, it's 30."
Neighbour McCarroll, 67, said: "I heard a screech and then a huge bang on Friday - I thought we'd been bombed and I felt the building shake.
"They need something there because it's dangerous for pedestrians and also this building's taken a knocking since I've lived here.
"I would put a sign up saying 'sharp bend ahead' and also I think they need to put in a pedestrian crossing, because people living in the flats are forever crossing over and the cars come thundering round that corner."
A spokesperson for Derby City Council said: "The safety of Derby's road users is very important to us, and we continually monitor accident levels around the city.
"Our injury-related data shows that there has been one incident at this site reported to us in the last five years.
"Our teams will continue to review this site and take appropriate action if necessary."
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