This weekend's crash at the junction of Canal Road and Valley Road, in which a baby girl was fortunate to escape serious injury, seems to confirm the view expressed only two days earlier by a Bradford solicitor that urgent improvements are needed at what police have said is an accident blackspot.

It is obvious to anyone who uses the road regularly that there could well be problems for drivers unfamiliar with the area who are travelling towards the city centre. Those wishing to turn into Valley Road have to use a "loop", peeling off Canal Road and then crossing it after emerging from behind a screen of bushes.

Solicitor Alan Petherbridge believes that motorists sometimes fail to notice the lights controlling this junction because they are distracted by a large, overhead gantry with direction signs.

It is a reasonable conclusion. Drivers heading towards the city centre are bombarded with signs along this stretch of road. It is not only at this junction that there are opportunities for confusion. A little further along, where drivers must turn right and cross the oncoming lanes to follow Canal Road towards Forster Square, they are confronted by a bewildering array of "No Entry" signs which can leave them temporarily baffled as to which way they should point their car.

However, that is less potentially hazardous than the Canal Road/Valley Road junction. Yesterday's crash would seem to be another example of its dangers. The police are apparently well aware of the problems. The Council needs to take action promptly to reduce the number of distractions. Those involved in the next accident may not be so lucky.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.