Pregnant nurse Leonie Wigmore used to enjoy her daily commute across Birmingham by bike. Pedalling carefully and using cycle lanes as much as feasible, it was a great way to get some fresh air and exercise before starting her gruelling shift at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

But then a car driven too fast, and too close, changed all that. The driver, dashing to get through a traffic light on red on the Northfield/Bristol Road junction, struck her a glancing blow, forcing her to swerve into the kerb. In agony, she watched the driver slow down briefly and then speed off again, leaving her injured by the roadside.

Another, less thoughtless, motorist pulled over to check on her. Thankfully, other than a giant bruise on her thigh, Leonie was physically okay after last month's incident. But the impact has left her mentally fretting on the what if's - with an unborn baby and a two year old at the front of her mind.

"I was really shaken up. I am five months pregnant but enjoy cycling to work and would really like to be able to carry on getting to work on my bike, especially through the summer. It’s the only way I keep active really, with a two year old to look after as well," she said.

On the face of it, this was a minor incident and won't feature in any accident statistics or police reports as Leonie didn't get the car number plate, and was too shocked at the time to think about much other than her baby's safety. It was 'a lucky escape'. But after a spate of incidents where vulnerable road users were not so lucky, people are demanding change.

Three cyclists have died in the last month - among them a 12 year old boy, crashed into by a motorist as he cycled along the A45 Coventry Road, and the dad of a two year old, left for dead after a crash on Belgrave Middleway. A little four year old lad walking on a main road in Erdington has also died after being struck by a car.

In Kings Heath last week, two young people were struck by a car as they crossed the high street, using a pedestrian crossing. The motorist involved drove off.

Now cyclists, their families and community leaders are pulling together to demand change, saying the roads must be made safer for vulnerable users, and it's time motorists were held to account.

In a show of people power, around 200 gathered close to the crossing on Sunday (June 18) to make their point in an event organised by campaigning group Better Streets for Birmingham. They stood in defiance, holding banners and chanting, to make their point.

The group believes that driving standards have plummeted and that multiple 'microaggressions' and law breaking - including jumping red lights, texting and using mobile phones while driving, and marginal speeding - are dismissed too often as minor infringements. For unprotected cyclists and pedestrians they can prove catastrophic.

Members of the group along with the region's cycling and walking commissioner Adam Tranter, local councillors, Birmingham MP Tahir Ali (Lab, Hall Green), active travel advocates, families and fed up locals turned up to say it's time to reclaim the streets from aggressive drivers.

Mat MacDonald, Better Streets co-chair, addressed the crowd. He told them the leaders of the city's council, police and highways should call an urgent press conference to debate the issues and declare 'an emergency'.

"We demand they use their powers to mobilise a visible and well organised police response and a greater visibility of traffic enforcement on our streets to reassure our communities of their safety."

The group is also demanding changes to sentencing guidelines and legal changes, and urging Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority to press for more road safety measures and funding and to speed up schemes already approved.

"The level of risk is just unacceptable," said Mr MacDonald. "And we're here today to say that must stop." At the event, attendees expressed their frustration about police inaction affecting cyclist and pedestrian safety.

Hope Fennell, then 13, died on the same crossing over a decade ago, trapped under the wheels of a lorry while crossing on her bike. Her mother Nazan recently told BirminghamLive of the daily heartache she still lives with - and her dread of more young lives lost.

Regular cyclist Paul Manzotti told the crowd: "It's not lost on me that we are here in plain sight of the ghost bike memorial to Hope Fennell. It's been there over a decade yet what change have we seen? If anything the roads feel more dangerous than ever."

Susan McClure, who now has ME and uses a mobility scooter, said she used to cycle and walk everywhere until falling ill. "I feel very strongly about bad driving and the impact to life and limb that results. This needs to be taken seriously."

Megan, 33, a librarian, said she too used to cycle to work daily into the city centre but not any more. "I have had so many close calls and so many near misses that it's driven me off the road. The last couple of years has definitely seen a change. You can feel the hostility towards cyclists and to me it is no longer a question of if, but when, I get hit by a car."

She was holding up a homemade sign at the protest imploring drivers not to be reckless and to observe red lights. Nine year old Ida, who attends a nearby school, said she wanted to see a change.

"I just don't think it's right that people can drive as fast as they want on these roads, and if they hit someone they just drive away." She said she usually felt safe walking or scooting to school but after the recent incident "I don't feel anyone can feel safe."

Hall Green MP Tahir Ali, whose constituency includes Kings Heath, is part of a group of MPs lobbying for change to laws and sentencing guidelines around hit and run drivers.

"Driving is a privilege not a right. We need tougher and stronger action against those who drive in an irresponsible way."

Local councillors including Lisa Trickett, Kerry Jenkins, David Barker and Izzy Knowles stood in solidarity with campaigners and promised to take the message back to council leaders.