FRESH safety calls have been made after a man was hit by a coach in London Road, Headington, the latest in a string of similar incidents in the past few months.

On Monday, April 3, a man was taken to hospital with a head injury after being hit in the road in central Headington.

The incident came after a 19-year old woman was involved in a collision with a coach in the same location and taken to hospital with a head injury in February.

The month before that in an almost identical collision a man was taken to hospital after an incident involving a coach near the junction with Latimer Road.

Immediately following the latest crash people were quick to raise concerns.

Marston city councillor Mary Clarkson, who regularly cycles London Road, said: "I am concerned that there have been a number of incidents along that stretch.

“There have been a few incidents recently where I have felt very vulnerable as a cyclist.

“I have had coaches within inches of my back wheels and have been honked at which is inappropriate.

“There is an awful lot going on there at the moment with various construction and roadworks so that slows traffic down which is also making drivers impatient."

Oxfordshire county councillor for Headington Ruth Wilkinson said the latest incident showed that traffic on London Road was an issue of 'great concern' to residents.

She said: “The number of accidents on this stretch of road worries residents and worries councillors.

“Monday was a slightly unusual day in that London Road was narrowed further west for roadworks which will continue until April 28.

“Drivers need to control their impatience and not hit the accelerator pedal as soon as they see an emptier stretch of road ahead, speed limits and lights are there for a reason.

“There is already a speeding problem on that stretch of road and I don’t believe that the 20 mph signs are large enough or visible enough there, and we have requested more enforcement.

“I have asked the county council for a full breakdown of how these accidents were caused."

Oxford Bus Company managing director Phil Southall said its X90 coaches, which travel through Headington to London up to eight times an hour, averaged fewer than two incidents per 100,000 miles.

He said the vast majority were either 'very minor' or the fault of a third party.

Mr Southall said: "Oxford Bus Company is extremely rigorous in its safety and hazard awareness training.

"The recent string of incidents in Headington are definitely a cause for concern and we have emphasised to all our drivers that this area is a high-risk 'hotspot' requiring extreme caution."

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Paul Smith said: "All councils in the UK monitor all of their roads in terms of accident statistics.

"They make judgements based only on the fully and formally established causes of accidents as assessed by the police and others.

"The large majority of accidents in the UK result from basic driver error.”

Thames Valley Police declined to comment on the specific concerns and instead asked the Oxford Mail to submit a freedom of information request.

Stagecoach, which operates Oxford Tube coaches through Headington, also declined to comment.