A VICAR, who helped at a horror crash in which a 15-year-old boy was killed, is urging the authorities to enforce safety by installing cameras on danger roads to catch speeding drivers.

Rev Dale Barton said he witnessed dangerous driving on a daily basis near to his church and vicarage in Barkerend, but "boy racers" got away with it because they knew they could not be caught on camera.

The walls outside St Clement's Church, at the junction of Barkerend Road and Gilpin Street, have been badly damaged by crashed cars twice in the last three years. One of the incidents resulted in the death of 15-year-old Saliq Malik, who was a passenger in a powerful Volkswagen Golf GTi.

Rev Barton praised Amjad Malik, who has run a high profile road safety campaign following the death of his son, Saliq.

"He is terrific, trying to extract something positive for young people out of this appalling family tragedy."

Rev Barton was at the front door of his vicarage when he heard the accident happen, in September last year, and went with a colleague to try and help.

He said: "We found this young man. My colleague was trying to clear his airways. It was upsetting."

Rev Barton said had the accident happened an hour later there would have been many pedestrians around, including mothers and children.

The other accident happened on Ascension Day 2012, in the early hours of the morning. Thousands of pounds of damage was caused to the church gateposts in the incidents.

Rev Barton, who is also vicar of St. Augustine's Church, in Otley Road, Undercliffe, said there were four speed cameras in Killinghall Road, and four in Otley Road, but none in Barkerend Road and Leeds Road.

He said: "There is no CCTV, no Automatic Number Plate Recognition, no speed cameras, nothing.

"On any given day I will see a car, if not more than one, driving at high speed on the road, sometimes in the daytime. There are four primary schools, and around 5,000 primary school children, in the area, but people are always driving through red lights."

He said he had recently seen a driver go through red lights on a pedestrian crossing as a mother and child tried to cross, and another driver overtook him in fog to jump a red light.

"I am surprised nobody other than Saliq has been killed on Barkerend Road," he said.

"It is mostly boy racers I see driving at dangerous speeds. I have never seen any enforcement. They are doing it because they know they are not going to get caught. We need number plate recognition and some speed traps."

Mr Malik said the attitude of young men who drove too fast and dangerously on the district's roads was rooted in the culture of drugs.

He said they wanted to follow in the footsteps of dealers with money.

He said: "A lot of young lads want to be bigger and harder, so when they get money they try to show off with it. This is where the driving comes in, they are trying to impress other people by what they are doing on the roads. They are trying to look good and say to others: 'We've got money in our pockets, this is what we've got.' They think it gives them the right to behave in any way they like on the roads.

"Due to other friends showing off, they do this stupid, reckless and dangerous driving to show how powerful the car is they are driving. It's about male macho. But little mistakes can lead to big consequences."

Mr Malik maintains that many dangerous young drivers are high on drugs or alcohol."It's the drugs that's at the heart of it. When they are high on drugs they will do anything. They start taking drugs at 14 or 15 and start hanging around with some of the lads that are drug dealers. We need to work with schools on these issues."

Mr Malik's son died from head injuries when the Volkswagen crashed into a parked car, a lamp-post and the church wall. An 18-year-old Bradford man has been charged with causing Saliq's death by dangerous driving and is to face trial.

Mr Malik now runs Consequences of Reckless Driving, which seeks to improve road safety and educate young drivers. The group has collected 2,400 signatures, calling for speed cameras in Leeds Road, and is to launch a new petition for cameras in Barkerend Road. The matter will be debated at a council meeting on Tuesday.

Mr Malik said: "I have been a taxi driver for 20 years and I have seen people driving at excessive speeds, cutting in and out of traffic and overtaking at stupid speeds, not bothering about members of the public. It is usually young men.

"Saliq was a well-known lad in the local area. I have no problem talking about Saliq and my personal experience and I think talking on Facebook about his death has brought some people down to earth.

"Some are starting to realise that these accidents can happen to anybody. The hard-hitting message I am trying to get across seems to be working to a degree, but it does need to get through to more people. I know of people who have been involved in very serious accidents who are still driving in the same way.

"The most important thing we need is for more people to come forward, who have been involved in such accidents, to go into schools and talk about their personal experiences."

Mr Malik wants to take the damaged car, in which his son was a passenger, around schools to show young people the consequences of reckless driving, but will have to wait until court proceedings are completed. He is now trying to persuade insurance companies to help with a damaged vehicle.