Emma Hollis, from Easthampstead, was walking home in February last year from her job as a call handler at the East Berkshire Primary Care out of hours service in Bracknell town centre, when she saw a car flip off Downshire Way and roll down the embankment in front of the underpass she was just about to cross under after the driver suffered a “medical episode”.

She said that she would have been hit by the car had she not been delayed at work by a late colleague and has been campaigning for crash barriers to be installed along the vicinity of the underpass, to protect people when walking underneath the road.

A year on, and Bracknell Forest Council’s highways team finished fitting the barriers last week, after conducting a safety survey as a result of the incident last year.

Miss Hollis, 36, said she has been reluctant to use the underpass ever since as she gets “flashbacks” of the event and had refused to use the pathway at night, but adds she will feel much safer now the barriers have been installed.

She said: “I am happy with the outcome because this will mean an incident like the one last year will not happen again, especially as, if it had happened again, someone could have been killed. It means one less thing to worry about because I always had flashbacks every time I walked under there – it was horrible.

“I am going to feel much safer now as a result of the new crash barriers. I am very pleased Bracknell Forest Council took my concerns on board and took action. This will save lives and protect pedestrians.

“I want to say thank you to the Bracknell News as well for publishing the original story as I think if it was just me, the council would not have taken any notice.” In a statement, the council said: “The new barriers were installed following the incident. The site had been assessed in the past but was given a low-risk status. However the event in February last year, although the result of a ‘medical event’, indicated that vehicles could, in extreme circumstances, potentially put pedestrians using the underpass at risk. “The site was subsequently re-assessed and the decision made to improve the protection by installing new barriers.”