Residents have said they are at "breaking point" over speeding traffic on a dangerous road in Bridge of Weir.
An urgent plea has been made for Renfrewshire Council to step in and enforce safety measures on Kilmacolm Road.
Locals "live in fear" of drivers, who are said to fly along the road from the lights at the Houston Road junction through to Strathgryffe Crescent, before leaving the village.
A petition has been submitted to the local authority, supported by 21 households, calling for action in an area used by vulnerable people, including children, GP surgery patients and elderly care home residents.
Jan Fulton, who spoke on behalf of the community at Monday's Petitions Board, said that just a matter of weeks ago a puppy was run down on the road.
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She said the problem of speeding traffic on the road is not new but had become "progressively worse" in recent years.
Ms Fulton added: "That's since the new traffic lights were installed at the Houston Road junction. That was brought in to accommodate the new care home.
"I would say that the consensus now, as a community, is that we feel we are at a bit of a breaking point with it. It's not an exaggeration to say that the people who live on Kilmacolm Road do live in fear of it.
"Whether that's because they've had actual cars crash into their gardens and property, because they've had pets killed on the road or because every day they walk their children to and from nursery and school along the road.
"It's something that's affecting people's lives on a daily basis. It's also no exaggeration to say that many vulnerable people use this route every day."
The petition said that with the exception of a 30mph sign upon entering the village, there is no other signage communicating to drivers that there are children playing, a nursery and primary school nearby or accommodation housing the elderly.
It also claimed that there are no speed calming measures which "forcibly slow vehicles down".
The petition warned: "If this is not addressed fully and urgently then it is only a matter of time before there is a human life lost on this road."
Ms Fulton said the community has witnessed "cars flying along the road in broad daylight" as children leave nursery or school.
She said: "For the many families who live on Kilmacolm Road with small children, myself included, we take our responsibilities to teach our children about road safety really seriously.
"Every day we're saying to our children, make sure you keep close to the wall, don't run ahead, don't go near the kerb and so on, but I do feel we need to consider the margin of error here.
"What about the elderly person who takes a tumble or the dog who escapes its lead or, god forbid, the child who trips and falls?
"We know our responsibilities as families and residents living on a main road but it is also the responsibility of the council to ensure that the road is made as safe as possible.
"We've all witnessed cars flying along the road in broad daylight when our children are coming out of school and nursery.
"Only a few weeks ago we had a wee puppy run down and killed by a speeding driver who didn't stop.
"The road is unsafe and I feel on that we can be of no doubt."
Roads officer Mark Higginbotham said the council would undertake a speed and place survey in response to the representations from Ms Fulton.
This will involve analysing accident data, speeds and the nature of pedestrians and buildings in the problem area.
The findings are in turn converted into a score, which is compared against other roads in Renfrewshire. A priority list for action is then compiled.
Mr Higginbotham said any sensible driver should recognise the countdown markers before entering the 30mph zone and alter their speed accordingly.
However, he added: "Obviously we have a number of rogue drivers who aren't slowing down, both coming inwards and going outwards. It's probably the ones going outwards that are going to be the hardest ones to reach.
"But we'll see what we can come up with and see if we can find some appropriate measures.
"The probability is that if you score highly enough on the assessment, we'll be coming back to the local population with some thoughts about how we might fix that, some proposals which we would want you to comment on.
"We'd want everybody in the area to tell us what they think, whether this is enough, too much, good idea, bad idea, whatever that might be and we can take it from there."
A survey has been booked for the week of October 10, meaning some form of results are expected at the end of that month.
Councillors also agreed that the matter should be referred to the department and relevant policy board for further investigation.
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