Mum recalls moment vehicle smashed into family garden in Bursledon

Children’s play equipment was flattened after the car smashed through fence panels when the driver lost control along Hamble Lane.

Homeowner Beth Dobson said that if her five-year-old son Elliott Dobson- Rice had been playing in the garden at the time, the car could have killed him.

The force of the impact left his swing mangled while debris from the car was strewn across St George Close, which backs on to Hamble Lane, near the Jurd Way roundabout in Bursledon Beth said: “It’s shaken me up as I dread to think what would have happened if my son had been out in the garden. He spends a lot of time out there.”

She said the car – a red Volkswagen Golf – had appeared to swerve to avoid a lorry.

The driver was left shaken but uninjured.

The accident happened yesterday at 9.15am and has led to renewed pleas for traffic-calming measures in Hamble Lane, which has become a traffic blackspot.

There have been repeated calls for the speed limit to be cut from 40mph to 30mph.

Last month, Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne backed residents’ calls for safety improvements following a crash in Hamble Lane which claimed the life of a motorcyclist.

Gary Corbin, 30, from Gosport, died in November when his Yamaha was in collision with a van near the junction with Satchell Lane.

Mr Huhne said: “It is clear we need to slow the traffic to a maximum of 30mph instead of 40mph. This traffic blackspot needs to be fixed urgently.”

A spokesman for Hampshire County Council said: “We do not have any plans in the near future for traffic calming in Hamble Lane, but we will await the findings of any police investigation before we assess the road and decide if anything needs to be done. Any potential changes to speed limits would be considered as part of this.

“We will also take into account any previous accidents in the same place. It may be that we would also need to take into account the circumstances that led up to the accident.”