A DRIVER who crashed into a bollard and only narrowly avoided hitting two women pushing a buggy has been slammed for his “potentially lethal” actions.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to the crash, which happened in New Cross Street in the West Bowling area of Bradford at just after 8pm on Sunday.

In dashcam footage captured by driver Abid Khan, a car can be seen travelling along the street, just past the entrance to Bowling Park Primary School.

As it approaches a speed bump and set of bollards, another car, a silver Vauxhall, pulls onto the wrong side of the road in a bid to overtake.

Unable to pass, the car brakes sharply but cannot avoid hitting and damaging the bollard.

The vehicle comes to a halt just a few feet from the two women, who turn around just prior to the impact.

Despite the collision, the car, which left long black tyre marks on the road surface, then reverses backwards before driving on.

Mr Khan, who later reported the matter to police, said: “What on earth is going through these people’s minds?

“How could you even be so stupid?

“I honestly don’t think they care about themselves, but they are putting people’s lives at risk.

“More than anything, you worry about the pedestrians. Anybody’s kid could have been out there playing.”

Mr Khan, 27, who lives in nearby Birch Lane, said he had been told by police that the crashed car was uninsured and not taxed. He described the driver as a white male, and said he had a front-seat passenger.

He said he spoke to the women after the incident to make sure they were okay.

He said: “They were shell-shocked, but they were unhurt. I told them I had got the driver on my dashcam so hopefully something will be done.

“There’s more bad driving day by day, that’s why I ended up getting a dashcam.

“Police need to do something about it, but my question is, what will they do?”

A spokesperson for Brake, the West Yorkshire based road safety charity, said they hoped police would take action in trying to track down the driver.

They said: “Dangerous driving, such as this, is a daily scourge on our roads, endangering all road users.

“The pedestrians in this video are extremely lucky that the driver’s selfish and irresponsible actions did not have serious and potentially lethal consequences.

“Thanks to technology we now have permanent evidence of this shocking driving behaviour and we hope that the police trace the culprit and make an example of them.”

After viewing the footage, Councillor Rizwana Jamil (Lab, Bowling and Barkerend) said: “Totally reckless and unacceptable driving behaviour.

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“Safety of the public should always be the priority and in this instance, it seems to have been compromised.

“Zero tolerance by the police on this type of behaviour is a must.”

Councillor Fareeda Mir (Lab, Little Horton), whose ward encompasses the crash site, added: “All I can say is it’s a very lucky escape for the two women and the child.

“There are speed bumps on that stretch of road to control the traffic, and if the bollards had not been there, the driver could have got onto the pavement and hit them.

“It could have been a disastrous situation.

“If the footage has been passed on to the police, I hope they are able to take it further and catch whoever is responsible.”

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed that the incident had been reported to them at 8.44pm, with the vehicle involved described as a Vauxhall Astra.

They said that footage of the incident had been received, and asked for any witnesses to the crash who might be able to provide further details to contact the Western Area Roads Policing Team on 101, quoting reference number 1885 of June 3.