Mum calls for speeding action after boy, 12, knocked down by car

‘Matter of time before someone is killed’

AMUM is urging action to reduce “frightening” speeding at a street in Heywood after her 12-year-old son was knocked down on the way to school.

Middleton Road has been dubbed “very dangerous” and concerned locals say it is “only a matter of time” before a fatality is reported after the boy was struck by a vehicle on the way to school.

The mum, Caroline, issued the plea after she received a harrowing phone call from a friend.

Recalling the terrifying moment, she said: “I got a phone call telling me he’d been knocked down and I had no idea at that moment the situation or whether he was dead.”

The incident occurred at around 8am on March 22 on Middleton Road, which resulted in her young son being taken to hospital and sustaining a broken ankle that required surgery. He is currently recovering at home.

Caroline, 39, said: “His injury could have been a lot worse as another car was close to hitting him. We could have been that family who received the awful news and we were very lucky we weren’t but somebody is going to die from an incident if something isn’t done soon.”

She added: “My son will get better but at some point there will be a child who won’t recover from such an incident.

“It is only a matter of time before somebody is going to get killed – it’s a death waiting to happen.”

Caroline has since started a petition to call upon local authorities to take “immediate action” on the 30mph road and install a pedestrian crossing, speed limit reductions, traffic calming measures or any other effective solutions that can ensure residents safety while crossing the road.

The petition has garnered over 200 signatures as the page says “our community has been plagued by numerous road accidents over the years.

“It’s a recurring nightmare that leaves many of us in constant fear for our safety and that of our children. We urgently need safer crossing measures to be implemented.”

Residents have also taken to the local Facebook group to voice their concerns after the incident.

One user said: “So scary that grownup children and even elderly people like me have to battle daily to cross that road, there’s not one safe place to cross for them, it’s so wrong and very, very dangerous.”

Another added: “I complained years, years ago about this road!”

Caroline, who did not want to give her surname, is hoping the petition will encourage local authorities to ‘take action’ against the dangers the road presents to adults and children in the area.

She said: “Residents have been complaining about Middleton Road for years. The speeds they go down is frightening.

“It makes me so angry and I’ve always wanted to do something and now is the time to speak up about the dangers before anyone else gets hurt.”

Mark Robinson, director of economy and place at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “This stretch of Middleton Road and the surrounding streets have been earmarked for additional safety measures and we are hoping to implement a 20mph speed zone with speed humps in the near future.

“We are currently awaiting the details of the police report on this incident and will consider all the information in it, alongside this petition, to determine whether any further safety measures need to be implemented in this area.”

‘It has been earmarked for safety measures and we are hoping to implement a 20mph speed zone with humps in the near future’ Rochdale Council director Mark Robinson