SHOCK and a sense of an accident waiting to happen are the feelings of parents living in Hill Rise in Chippenham following the horrific accident on Monday that left a 12-year-old boy critically injured.

Marie who lives opposite where the accident happened said the main problem was the speed of motorists. She said: “They use the hill to speed up like a race track and then come down past this narrow stretch at speed when there are families on their way or way back from school.

“We have wanted the council to put in speed bumps for years or traffic calming as this is a residential road with lots of children walking or cycling to school.”

Mother of small children Tasha who lives at the bottom of the hill said: “The accident was horrendous. It’s left everyone feeling very shocked.”

She said a 20mph speed limit with pinch points to slow traffic would slow traffic on the estate. Traffic had increased with a new development under construction nearby that was bringing building workers who use the road as an access road.

Tasha’s car had been written off in January when a car crashed into it when it was parked in the layby near her home, while other residents said wing mirrors were regularly knocked by passing vehicles as parked cars narrowed the street.

A lady who was born in the road and had lived there for most of her life said parking was a problem. She needed to park close to her front door as she cared for her elderly mother in her 90s who couldn’t walk very far.

Another resident John Gray said the accident had shaken everyone in the road. He said: “Narrow roads, rush hour traffic and children spilling out onto the road at school time was an accident waiting to happen.”

Speed bumps were required according to young mums Magdalene and Kylie who push prams everyday up and down the road while walking their children to school. Magdalene said cars often park on the pavements forcing her to push the pram into the road “taking her life in her hands.”

There were also blind spots said Kylie who said that could have been an issue with the accident as cars coming down the hill can’t see pedestrians or cyclists until the last second if they have to step into the road to avoid parked vehicles.

Magdalene said: “This is a nice estate and you expect to be able to let your children walk or cycle to school, but I’m afraid to let them go out because of the speed of the cars.”