Locals have slammed a "danger road" after a string of accidents near where a mother and three young children were injured in a horror crash in Carluke.
Residents working close to the scene have called for action after the four pedestrians where knocked down on Kirkton Street in the South Lanarkshire town at around 3.10pm on Wednesday, October 27.
All four victims - a mum in her twenties and her children aged seven, four and three-years-old - were rushed to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment after being hit by a car outside Aldi on the street.
On Thursday morning police confirmed the woman and one of the children had suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries, while the other two victims sustained minor injuries.
Following the terrifying incident, locals working in shops along the road are calling for change after highlighting a number of accidents on the street in the last few years.
Ali Hamrah, who runs the Perfect Press dry cleaners nearby, was one of the first on the scene following the crash.
The 43-year-old told the Record: "I came out after the incident had happened and I saw all the ambulances.
"I went outside and saw three kids lying on the road receiving medical assistance, while a car was parked in the middle of the road.
"It was at school closing time and I believe the children had been walking back from the school.
"I went close to them to see and thankfully they looked okay.
"There's a major problem with this T junction coming out of Aldi.
"You can see the barriers along the road are all bent from crashes. The experts need to look into it to make it more safe."
The junction where the crash happened is just yards from both Kirkton and St Athanasius' Primary Schools in the town.
Ali has called on road bosses to consider a new road layout and add more signage along the street to avoid further accidents in future.
He said: "The traffic experts have to look into changing the road layout and adding a couple of signs.
"When the cars get out of Aldi they can go both right and left, so all the routes are open which causes problems.
"There has to be more signs and more guidance to make it safer.
"People pulling out from the junction down towards the school causes problems as well."
Ali pictured a two-car crash at the same section of the road while he was working in his shop on May 20, 2020.
Police Scotland confirmed no-one was injured as a result of that crash, but Ali's pictures show the vehicles badly damaged in the smash.
A silver Mercedes crashed into the barrier while a black vehicle was seen damaged in the middle of the road.
On Thursday morning, the Record pictured several areas of the barrier along the road that had been bent following crashes.
Ali added: "They must have the CCTV recordings of the incidents happening.
"If they pull out those incidents and analyse the data they should be able to come up with a solution."
Marion Forsyth, who runs Clyde Valley Dog Groomers on the street, agreed something urgently needs to be done.
She said: "I've been here six years and I've seen a lot of accidents on this street and they've done nothing.
"It's very dangerous. It's people coming out of Aldi, there is too many traffic lights on this road and so they put their foot down and speed up to try and catch the lights.
"The pedestrian crossing here is dreadful as well. Folk all try to rush across and you can see the cars flying up and down the street.
"It's terrible. Last year there was a lady knocked down just across from Aldi.
"And then about two years ago a driver went right into the pedestrian crossing and bent all the railings."
She added: "The junction down towards the school doesn't help either as folk are always trying to get out onto the main road.
"There's two schools near here as well so there are dozens and dozens of children crossing that road everyday.
"If we could get some speed bumps or a roundabout perhaps on this stretch it could really help."
A massive fleet of 10 ambulances rushed to the scene following reports of the serious accident on Wednesday.
Conservative Clydesdale West Councillor Poppy Corbett admitted the incident had brought issues concerning the junction into "stark focus".
Ms Corbett told the Record: "I was horrified to hear of this incident and I wish all of those involved a speedy recovery.
"This accident has brought into stark focus the need to urgently improve traffic safety measures at this junction. Given it’s close proximity to schools, the current layout is putting children in significant danger, which is deeply concerning.
"Carluke is ever expanding and that cannot come at a price of more and more dangerous road traffic incidents.
"Urgent action must be taken to clamp down on speeding motorists and ensure residents in Carluke feel safe whilst walking about."
Inspector William Broatch, from Motherwell Road Policing Unit, said officers are continuing their enquiries.
He said: "We continue to ask for any members of the public who witnessed the crash and has yet to speak to police, to please come forward.
"Anyone with information can call police on 101, quoting incident 2110 of October 27.”
Meanwhile, despite the fears raised by locals following the crash, the head of South Lanarkshire Council’s Roads and Transportation Services denied there was an issue with the road.
Colin Park said: “Our thoughts are with all those involved in the accident and the council’s education staff are working with local schools to offer support for anyone affected by it.
““The council constantly monitors road accidents as one of the key criteria for determining when and where improvement action should be taken. In this case, until Wednesday’s sad events, in the last 10 years there had been no accidents involving pedestrian injury on this stretch of road and no accidents at all reported to us at the crossing in question.
“However, while this location therefore does not have a history of injury accidents, we will await the outcome of the Police investigation before considering if any actions are necessary.”
Police Scotland confirmed the accident on the road last year in a statement.
A spokesperson said: “Officers were called to a two-car road crash on Kirkton Street, Carluke, around 2.45pm on Wednesday, 20 May, 2020.
“There were no injuries reported and recovery was arranged.”
