Two children in near misses with motorists
Hammersmith & Fulham Council say they are working to improve the safety of the pelican crossing outside St. Stephen's Primary school after complaints from parents.
Two children were involved in near misses with motorists outside the Uxbridge Road school last month.
On one occasion a driver sped past another car that was waiting for children to cross the road and grazed one of them before driving off. The child was not seriously harmed and neither was a second child involved in a separate incident
To try and make the crossing safer, timings on the traffic lights have been changed to give pedestrians more time to cross the busy road and the Council are also planning to replace the old road signs to make the crossing more obvious to drivers.
The Council say they considered a request for a lollipop lady at the crossing but decided against the move after transport experts argued that it could make the crossing more dangerous. They say evidence shows that drivers can become confused and frustrated when the lights are green but the road is blocked by a lollipop lady.
Despite the two incidents in May, the Council's Deputy Leader, Cllr Nick Botterill, said the crossing actually had a very good safety record. "We are improving the signage around this crossing and have reviewed the signal timings to give school children more time to cross," he said.
In March, a 24-year-old man was hit by a bus and killed while trying to cross Uxbridge Road in the same place. It is not known whether he was making use of the pelican crossing at the time.
13 June 2009
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