Near miss ordeal steps up crossing campaign
A school-run mum has described the dramatic moment she saved her son from being struck by a car – with just an inch to spare.
Kirsten Barr fears if her reactions had been seconds slower, her four-year-old son would have been seriously hurt or worse on the unofficial crossing point outside Lochnell School in Benderloch, which is used around 600 times a week.
‘The car was just an inch away from him. I pulled Jamie back and just fell on my knees in tears squeezing him as tight as I could,’ she said.
The near-miss on the busy A828 has further fuelled a long-time campaign by parents calling for a safe crossing.
GP Beth Davies, who is also a school mum, has now created a Facebook page and set up an online survey to log people’s experiences and thoughts about the road.
‘When I was working in A&E in Glasgow I’ve had to resuscitate children and adults who have been hit by cars. I don’t want to have to do that outside my children’s school. Our campaign wants to make a positive change but not one that is tainted by tragedy,’ she said.
The web survey at tinyurl. com/lochnell got 190 responses in its first 24 hours.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has also been lobbied for action, along with Transport Scotland, BEAR Scotland, the police, Argyll and Bute Council and Ardchatten Community Council.
A Transport Scotland survey last September showed majority speeds passing the school reached 31.8mph when the 20mph sign was flashing at the start and end of the pupils’ day.
DJ Barr, whose son was involved in last week’s nearmiss, fears incidents like it are getting so frequent now that some parents are starting to accept it as being ‘normal’.
‘Every week something like this is happening and it’s just becoming the norm because it’s happening so often. It’s terrifying. People must not accept it. We have to act and we have to act now. This is real danger. All near-misses must be reported to police,’ he said.
When Lochnell school was smaller, parents dropping off or collecting children used the car park immediately outside it but staff grew uneasy at the safety of children with vehicles and buses coming and going, so parents were ‘advised’ to use the car park on the other side of the road, said Mr Barr who is now a member of Ardchattan Community Council.
After last week’s near-miss, he fired off emails to powersthat-be, including the first minister. The crossing issue has been on Lochnell Parent Council’s agenda and again when it met on Tuesday.
Police have also been carrying out speed-checks outside the school when resources have allowed. It is understood on one such occasion earlier this year, eight people were cautioned and one was charged.
This week BEAR Scotland said it will be reviewing the approaches to the school before March next year ‘to see if anything could be improved or introduced to reduce vehicle speeds and increase road safety at Lochnell.’
Argyll and Bute councillors Kieron Green and Elaine Robertson have pledged support and a meeting is being organised with campaigners, relevant authorities and agencies. BEAR Scotland has also confirmed it will be meeting with community councillors.
Community councillor Willie Barnett, who supports campaigning parents 100 per cent, said there needed to be an emergency meeting: ‘Do we really need to wait for a child to be hurt or killed before we get a safe crossing? It’s appalling.’