EVERY parent's worst fear came true for one family when a four-year-old girl was injured in a collision with a car in Worcester last night.

Unsurprisingly, it has prompted calls for traffic-calming measures to be introduced on the road because residents are worried that, next time, the outcome could be fatal.

Accidents like this are always a reminder that you need eyes in the back of your head where young children and safety are concerned.

And, though speed hasn't been blamed for this near-tragedy, it reinforces the fact that, where youngsters are likely to playing, anything that calms traffic should be considered.

As one concerned mother, Mary Davis, says: "Kids are kids they don't always look where they're going. This was an accident waiting to happen."

The incident causes us to revisit a wider point made in the wake of problems created by speeders in Warndon Villages in March last year.

We called for a 20mph speed limit on Woodgreen Drive, but it wasn't the first time we'd floated the idea - and it won't be the last.

While the Sycamore Road plea echoes in the minds of councillors and road safety officials at County Hall, they could also give thought to the value of applying a 20mph limit on all of the city's residential roads.

We've long been convinced that road safety would improve and pollution fall if that happened.

It would surely ease traffic flow too - a move that could only cut journey times in and around the Faithful City.