Road fears

Lollipop men and women have been removed from 24 locations across Rutherglen and Cambuslang in the past three years, the Reformer can reveal.

And in the past year five children have been knocked down going to and from school in Rutherglen and Cambuslang.

Five children have been knocked down going to and from school in Rutherglen and Cambuslang in the past year.

Last week, we reported a ten-yearold girl had been struck whilst walking to St Columbkille’s Primary School on the morning of December 5.

Rebekah Reilly was struck by a Range Rover on Parkhill Drive at the exact location where a school crossing patroller was axed by South Lanarkshire Council.

The incident came months after three children were hit by cars en route to and from Cairns Primary in Cambuslang.

The most recent incident on May 17 saw two children aged six and nine hit by a car on Ivybank Avenue as they left Cairns Primary School.

And on March 8 a third child, a P6 pupil of the same school, was knocked down at 3pm.

All three children were treated for bruising and shock, but were not seriously injured.

The incidents saw parents of Cairns Primary and nearby St Cadoc’s school call for a school crossing patroller to be installed on Ivybank Avenue, but their request was turned down by South Lanarkshire Council.

The local authority confirmed it does not keep a record of near misses in and around its schools.

Head of South Lanarkshire Council’s roads and transportation services, Gordon Mackay, said:“We regularly monitor all road accidents using data provided by Police Scotland. Those incidents involving children are identified and assessed as to whether the accident occurred during a school journey.

“From November last year to the end of October this year, there have been 56 child casualties across the whole of South Lanarkshire and nine of these can be identified as occurring during times associated with the school journey.

“Over the last decade there has also been a general downward trend in child casualties in South Lanarkshire.

“While any accident is one too many, it should be borne in mind that during a school year there are roughly 16.5 million school journeys and an extremely small proportion of these unfortunately result in road accidents.”