SCHOOLBOY, 7, FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE AFTER BEING HIT BY CAR
SHOCKED RESIDENTS LEAD RENEWED CALLS TO IMPROVE ROAD SAFETY ON BUSY ROAD
A GRIMSBY schoolboy is in a critical condition after a collision with a car on Durban Road.
The family of the seven-year-old are at his bedside at Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham to where he was flown by air ambulance. Humberside Police are supporting the family of the schoolboy who had been walking along Durban Road at around 5pm on Monday. Officers are also supporting the driver of the Kia Picanto which was involved in the crash.
One eyewitness told Grimsby Live said his son was playing with the boy shortly before the crash.
He said: “I saw a little kid run out - I actually still feel sick from it all. “My little boy was playing with him at the time.”
While the circumstances of the collision are being investigated, it has led to renewed calls to improve road safety on the East Marsh. The collision happened on Durban between the junctions with Weelsby Street and Ladysmith Road, several metres from the traffic lightcontrolled junction.
Parents of schoolchildren who regularly use the Durban Road junction with Ladysmith Road were joined by a leading councillor in calling for more road safety measures.
One parent told the Grimsby Telegraph: “My kid has never had road safety lessons in school.”
She added: “It has always been bad around here because there are a lot of schools all within walking distance. There are a lot of accidents.” Another parent said: “I am teaching my son to go to school on his own. I pick him up sometimes but always say that even if the green man is showing he must always keep looking because there are that many drivers who try to jump the lights.” One mother said: “There hasn’t been any road safety in school all throughout the lockdown as no one apart from the teachers and pupils go into school. We were always taught about it in my school and we all joined the Tufty Club.” Samantha Jane Brown: “I’ve lived down this street for 28 years. People have nowhere to park so stay on double yellow lines, something definitely needs to be done to sort the problem out. It needs speed bumps and speed cameras, it also needs just-residents parking.”
East Marsh ward councillor, Steve Beasant said he will be speaking with highways officials in relation to the collision and other incidents including the crash on Wellington Street, which critically injured a woman cyclist in August.
“My heart goes out to the family and the young child, no one deserves to be in an accident,” he told the Grimsby Telegraph.
He added: “We don’t know the full details or what may have contributed to the accident. It raises road safety concerns and we will be demanding urgent action. No one should be put through this trauma, all road safety issues should be addressed.
“It is time we got to grips with road safety on the East Marsh.”
The stand-in helicopter used by Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire air ambulance crew while the usual yellow Augusta Westland 169 is in service, took the schoolboy to the major trauma department at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. A spokesman from Humberside Police said: “An investigation has been launched into the circumstances and specialist officers are supporting the boy’s family and the driver at this very difficult time.” “If you have any information that could assist the investigation, call the non-emergency 101 line, quoting log 429 of October 19.
It has always been bad around here because there are a lot of schools all within walking distance. There are a lot of accidents. Concerned parent