Dad shaken up by his teenage son’ s close call

Ashaken dad said his teenage son was lucky to escape with minor injuries after an accident outside a Broughty Ferry school.

Lewis Smith, 16, was cycling near Dundee’s Forthill Primary when he was in a collision with a car yesterday at around 8.30am.

The Grove Academy pupil was turning right from Forthill Road down Fintry Place when the accident with a red Volkswagen Golf occurred.

Dad Martin said Lewis had a lucky escape.

He added: “He has some scrapes, but is luckily OK.

“You can imagine how I was feeling when I found out.”

He added: “The driver was great, to be fair. I’m not angry with him.

“He shook my hand straight away when I arrived, I’ll give him his due.

“Lewis will be off school recovering. He had a bit of a shock, but it could have been a lot worse.

“The response from everyone – including witnesses, paramedics and the police – was brilliant.

“I can’t thank them enough.”

Mr Smith, who lives in Panmurefield Village, thinks the street is unsafe for school children and said he had concerns about the area when Lewis was a pupil at Forthill.

He said: “It’s a hell of a place, this.

“You can see how many cars are coming up and down Forthill Road, some at speed.

“I don’t understand why they don’t make a space within the school grounds into a car park.”

Another woman walking by after the incident echoed Mr Smith’s concerns.

She said: “This road is really a worry.

“It’s not surprising something like this has happened.

“I always think the road is far too busy for outside a primary school.”

A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “The council takes road safety around schools very seriously and we have processes in place that consider injury accidents on the road network within the city.

“We would always ask people to drive safely, especially around schools, and would also encourage parents to consider using other more sustainable forms of travel to reduce the impact of cars and traffic on the roads around schools.”

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Officers received a report of a crash involving a car and a cyclist on Fintry Place in Dundee around 8.50am on Tuesday.

“Emergency services attended.”

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We received a call at 8.42am on Tuesday to attend an incident on Forthill Road in Dundee.

“We dispatched one ambulance and our special operations team to the scene.

“We treated one patient at the scene.”

Forthill Road, Dundee. COLLISION: Emergency vehicles at the scene of the accident in