Harborne Junction Named As Most Dangerous Cycling Blackspot
Part of Harborne’s road network has been named as the most dangerous in Birmingham for cyclists.
The busy stretch of road that links War Lane, Lordswood Road, Harborne Park Road and the High Street is Birmingham’s number one cycling collision blackspot, according to research gathered by law firm Levenes.
Cycle injury specialist law firm Levenes used information provided by the Department of Transport to establish Birmingham’s ten most dangerous areas for people riding bikes.
Chris Hanlon of Levenes explains there were 16 collisions involving cyclists reported between 2005-2010, including three serious incidents in this area over the five-year period and have produced a map showing all of them. The map was collated to coincide with several national campaigns to promote cycle safety issues.
He said: “The public is currently very responsive to cycle stories. With the cycling community in mind, using government data, we have developed the map featuring all cycle accidents reported on the UK roads between 2005 and 2010.
“The map highlights areas or junctions where there is a particular danger to cyclists based on the number of accidents there,” added Mr Hanlon.
Solicitors appeal for witnesses of M5 crash
An appeal for witnesses to the recent M5 coach crash has been launched by personal injury firm Claim Today Solicitors. CTS have been instructed to act on behalf of a number of the injured fruit pickers who were hurt when the coach that was carrying them to work was hit by a lorry in dense fog on the morning of Saturday 24 th March.
The crash in which two men have died and forty people were injured happened between junction 2 and 3 of the M5 near Halesowen in West Midlands. CTS want more witnesses to come forward to help them with their investigations. The appeal comes after clients reported a climate of fear concerning job security amongst the agency workers who were on the coach that morning on their way to a job in Evesham.
CTS are seeking to reassure the workers that there are laws to protect their employment rights were they to give evidence in respect of this crash which led to many of their colleagues being injured.
Rob Bhol CTS Managing Director said “A worrying picture is beginning to emerge concerning this extremely tragic incident. We are obviously keen to speak to as many witnesses as possible about events running up to the M5 coach crash so we can build an effective case for our clients. We understand that many of the workers are reluctant to come forward because of fears for their job security but we want to reassure them that we will treat any information we are given with discretion and sensitivity and that there are laws in place to protect their individual employment rights.”
Birmingham property lawyers warn of economic fall-out from stamp duty
Property specialists at Birmingham solicitors DBS Law are calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to extend the Stamp Duty exemption for first time buyers to avoid dire economic consequences in the West Midlands.
Purchasing a residential property over the value of £125,000 attracts the dreaded Stamp Duty, but since March 2010, first-time buyers let off the tax on the purchase of all homes costing between £125,000 and £250,000. This move was designed to kick-start the housing market and up to now this has been successful .
Many mortgage lenders have reported an increase in the number of mortgages approved in the last few months as first time buyers hope to complete on their house purchase before 24 March. It has also been widely reported that house prices may have slightly increased over the last few months.
This exemption comes to an end on 24 March 2012, and thereafter first home buyers will have to pay the whacking 1% on top of their house purchase. For many younger people on tight budgets this will be the thing that keeps them at home with mum and dad.
Head of Property Law at DBS Abdul Zaheed believes closing down the exemption could be disastrous for the West Midlands economy. “The stampede we are seeing of first time buyers trying to complete purchases this month will surely be followed by crash in the market when the exemption ends. The economy is very fragile right now and halting activity in the housing market will have ramifications throughout the economy of our region. We can only hope the Chancellor has a nice surprise in his Budget for first time buyers.”
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