A CHILD has been knocked over by a car outside a busy primary school in Rugby – prompting a warning that ‘someone is going to have blood on their hands’ if pedestrian safety is not improved at the site.
The child, who was hit by a car in Houlton Way outside St Gabriel’s CofE Academy in Houlton on Wednesday (October 16), was not seriously injured.
The school’s head and a concerned parent have repeated their calls for improved safety measures, which have been caught up in red tape since the school opened in 2018.
Jeremy Nicholls, who has two children at St Gabriel’s, says it is only a matter of time before a more serious incident occurs – and ‘the consequences don’t bear thinking about’.
He said: “I understand the child was crossing at one of the dedicated – but unofficial – drop kerb crossing points. However, due to there being no associated road markings, cars park either side of the crossing point resulting in almost zero visibility.
“Without the appropriate road markings preventing cars from parking right up to the crossing points, these are perhaps more dangerous than if they didn’t exist due to them creating a false sense of security for children who are still developing their road safety awareness.”
Mr Nicholls, who raised his concerns with The Observer back in April, said he had been calling for wider roads, dedicated parking bays and double yellow lines outside the school for the last 18 months.
He added: “There is only so much the school can do without the support of decision makers.
“Houlton’s developers Urban&Civic say it is down to Warwickshire County Council (WCC) who will need to make the final decision to make any changes.
“If the situation isn’t improved quickly, something unthinkable is going to happen and someone is going to have blood on their hands.”
Headteacher Andrew Taylor said it was an upsetting incident for the whole community, and incredibly fortunate that no serious injuries occurred.
He added: “We believe that a combination of a lack of signal controlled crossing points and inconsiderate and unsafe parking around the school are contributing factors.
“We sadly observe parking and manoeuvres that put pedestrians at risk on a daily basis.
“For almost two years, we as a school have been requesting action from both WCC Highways and Urban&Civic to install signal controlled crossing points, anti-parking zig zag lines and a 20mph school safety zone.
“We are engaging representatives of both organisations as well as councillors and the police to try to secure these measures.”
An Urban&Civic spokesperson said: “Road design and layout is something that we have to agree with WCC, and ahead of adoption of Houlton Way we have been working with them on plans for additional measures in the school safety zone at St Gabriel’s.
“While these measures are being approved and implemented, we are organising temporary crossing marshals to be in place from Monday (October 21).”
A WCC spokesperson said: “We will work with the school and the developer to monitor any road safety risks in order to investigate and assess what solutions might be appropriate.
“In the meantime, temporary crossing measures will be in place on site.”
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