School calls for road safety scheme after child injured
BBCA primary school wants to see a road safety initiative rolled out after a pupil was struck by a car on a zebra crossing on their way home.
Head teacher Howard Seymour said the child was "now well and back in school but they did break their collar bone" in the collision half a mile from Clewer Green CofE First School in Windsor, Berkshire, on 8 January.
The incident has prompted the school to call for inclusion in the School Streets scheme, which is being introduced around the UK.
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead council said: "We're not currently looking to open the school streets initiative up [in Windsor] yet but we're always looking how we can best support schools."
The authority said implementing the initiative needed "time, community support and funding", adding that "the scheme still being trialled".
It currently operates one School Street scheme for Wessex Primary School in Maidenhead.
The injured child's mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "No family should have to experience the fear and trauma of a preventable accident on a road used by so many children."
She has since launched a petition to make Hatch Lane safer, saying: "[It] was never just about one child, it was about protecting all children.
"Every one of us who uses that road has a duty of care to slow down, to think and to put children's safety first."
Thames Valley Police said a 49-year-old man, from Windsor, was arrested on suspicion of drug driving in connection with the collision and had been released under investigation.
Seymour said the road by the school was always busy at peak times, with parents picking up and dropping off children, as well as commuters and other schools nearby adding to the traffic.
Being part of the scheme would keep everyone safer and "not in danger of being hit by a car or people mounting the curb", said the head teacher.
What are School Streets?
The School Streets scheme is a traffic management initiative where roads directly outside schools are closed to vehicles during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times to create pedestrianised areas for children to walk.
Residents living within the zone, emergency services and designated Blue Badge holders are exempt.
The main goals are to improve road safety, reduce congestion, decrease air pollution, and encourage walking or cycling to school.
The scheme began in Italy in the late 1980s and was introduced in the UK by East Lothian Council in 2014 and City of Edinburgh Council in 2015.
Many councils use automatic number plate recognition and cameras to enforce the restrictions, with penalty charges for unauthorised vehicles.
Other parents at the school have expressed their concerns over road safety.
Dad Kerrin Walker said: "Nobody seems to have any patience to let a child cross or is aware that a child is crossing.
"You feel very anxious about child safety down the road in drop-off and pick-up.
"We, as parents, shouldn't feel unsafe outside their school and certainly the children shouldn't, this should be a safe place for them generally."
Parent and chair of governors Rebecca Cutter told the BBC: "It is concerning, one false step and somebody's in the road... it could be catastrophic.
"We have described it around here as an accident waiting to happen and, unfortunately, an accident did happen not so long ago."
The mum added: "You get cars that bump into the pavements and try and get past.
"There's [been] a couple of times where I have literally pushed them [children] into a hedge to try and keep them out of the way."
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