Safety fears come to a head as car crashes through school fence
MHLC-24-04-12 Speeding cars APR83 Residents of Baker Avenue and The Approach and other people are concerned about speeding cars coming around bend. One recently crashed through the fence and into the shared playing fields of St Patrick's and Kingsway schools. Pictured,Diane Allsopp,Clare and Pul Crowley,Lesley and Amy Manning and Jacke Tanner .
PEOPLE worried about speeding traffic have called on motorists to slow down and think about children going to school in the area.
Concerns have come to a head after a car being driven on the bend which connects Baker Avenue and The Approach crashed into a fence surrounding playing fields by Kingsway Primary.
Clare Crowley, of Baker Avenue, said: “I’ve said for years that road humps are used on our road and The Approach because cars speed around the bend.
“A car went straight through the school fence. Thank goodness no-one was walking there because they wouldn’t be alive today.
“If it happened during school hours children could have been on the fields.
“Recently, a friend was walking along there and a car came close to the kerb and it clipped her arm, but if that had been a child there could have been a death.”
A recent Kingsway School newsletter has urged parents to leave themselves adequate time for the school run and comply with parking regulations.
A statement issued by the school said: “Mrs Jenny Gledhill (headteacher) is very concerned about the safety of children outside the school and is working with school governors and police to raise awareness of the issues.
“Parents are frequently requested via newsletters to park safely, especially as they are often double-parked.”
Mrs Crowley said she had asked Warwickshire County Council to install safety measures such as humps and road narrowing, claiming a lot of scrapes and near-misses go unreported.
Chris Fossey, a senior road safety officer, said an accident investigation of the area had been carried out, saying: “The road has a relatively good safety record compared to other roads in Warwickshire.
“There is a small capital budget for casualty-reduction engineering projects which is targeted at locations with a high number of accidents.”
Mr Fossey said they had been in contact with Mrs Crowley about residents taking part in the Com-munity Speed Aware initiative.
It includes high-visiblity stickers which would be displayed on wheelie bins to catch motorists’ attention once a week.
Also, the loan of a speed detector device connected to a flashing speed indicator sign which illuminates a smiley face for legal speed and a sad face for speeding.
Mr Fossey said temporary slow-down signs warning drivers of schools in the area will be erected, which could lead to permanent warning signs.
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Weather for Leamington
Monday 20 May 2013
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