Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HELP US KEEP OUR11 CHILDREN SAFE
Residents demand ramps and speed reduction after tragic Kai, 3, knocked down
HOUSING estate residents have made fresh demands for road safety measures after the death of a boy aged three.
The Bowtown community in Newtownards, Co Down, stood in protest to call for the speed limit to be reduced and for ramps to be put in place.
Kai Corkum died 24 hours after being struck on Movilla Road, where the protest took place, on December 13.
Community worker Tracy Mcvea said numerous children had been knocked down in the estate but thankfully had not been seriously injured.
Yesterday the mum of-four added: “There have been a lot of accidents. At the traffic lights there have been a lot of children knocked down and we have been fighting for years to get speed ramps put in.
“We are the only estate that doesn’t have them and I think it’s time now we did.”
She said it is a very dangerous situation when children are dropped off at Abbey Primary School in the morning and picked up in the afternoon – and action needs to be taken.
The community is calling for ramps to be installed throughout the estate and for the speed limit on the Movilla Road – where the school is located – to be reduced to 20mph during class times and from 40mph to 30mph at other times of day.
Tracy added: “It is crazy – cars park everywhere and there’s lorries, tractors, buses on the road. There are over 700 children at Abbey alone that are crossing this road coming through the estate every day, so it is hectic.
“Help us keep our children safe – help us by putting the speed ramps in and by reducing the speed as much possible.”
She said the death of Kai highlighted the need for urgent action to be taken over residents’ road safety concerns.
The community were joined by a number of local political representatives holding placards urging drivers to cut their speed.
Strangford MLA Mike Nesbitt said he is doing all he can to support people living in the area.
The former UUP leader added: “I have written to the permanent secretary at the Department for Infrastructure.
“I am doing research into how many speed bumps there are in other estates, how long they have been there and why they are there.
“This will lead to the question of why are there none here and can we have traffic calming on Abbot Drive? “Residents know these are dangerous roads. I believe in recent times up to 11 children have been hit according to police records in and around this area of the Bowtown estate.
“Sometimes, sadly, it takes a fatality to really focus the authorities but the residents here are focused – we are focused and will remain focused until we get something done.”