Two young men seriously hurt as car hits tree in Kingstanding

Two young men were seriously hurt when their car hit a tree and ended up on its side after a crash on the Kingstanding and Great Barr border.

Police are appealing for witnesses and footage of the collision, which happened at the junction of Old Oscott Lane and Oscott School Lane shortly before 6pm on Thursday.

What happened

A car was crossing Old Oscott Lane when it collided with a second car, which ended up on its side against a tree. The driver and passenger of that car, aged 19 and 21, were taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital with potentially serious injuries. A woman in the other car was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

The ambulance service sent two ambulances, three paramedic officers, a trauma doctor with a critical care paramedic, and its specialist trauma team.

"On arrival, a man was found in a serious condition. He received specialist trauma care before being conveyed under emergency driving conditions to Queen Elizabeth Hospital," a spokesperson said. "A second man was also found. He was treated for serious injuries before being conveyed under emergency driving conditions to Queen Elizabeth Hospital."

A landlady first on the scene

Kim Smith, the landlady of the Kingfisher pub next to the junction, said she was first to help. She told Birmingham Live she was a former medic and first responder.

"The passenger was fitting. The driver was able to speak," she said. "The fire service cut them out. The passenger came out first and it took an hour to get the driver out. They both came out through the boot."

She said she had run the pub for seven years and that "accidents happen every couple of months".

Police appeal

The road was closed for several hours while officers worked at the scene.

"We're carrying out a full investigation, speaking to witnesses, and reviewing footage from around the area," a police spokesperson said. "We are specifically asking for anyone with dashcam or doorbell footage from the area to get in touch."

Information can be given on 101 or through Live Chat on the force's website, quoting log 4330 of 15 October.

Road safety

The crash comes in a week when road safety has been high on the agenda in Birmingham. Figures from an artificial intelligence camera trial in Ladywood showed thousands of drivers apparently not wearing seatbelts or using phones, and the council has set out plans for 20mph to become the standard limit on residential streets.

The regional road safety partnership's aim is to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads, and it says witnesses who come forward after a crash play a big part in investigations. Anyone who saw the crash, or the cars before it, is asked to contact police even if they think what they saw is minor.