7:59pm Monday 2nd November 2009
By James Nadal
A MOTHER whose son was knocked down by a car in Cookham joined with other parents tonight to demand action on the 'unsafe' road.
Graphic designer Claire White, of Gainsborough, Cookham, said her son Daniel White, seven, has been too afraid to cross Lower Road since being injured in July.
Daniel suffered head injuries and a series of cuts and bruises on his legs but the consequences could have been far more grave, Mrs White said.
“He knows his green cross code and how to cross a road but the car came out quickly and hit him," she said.
“If he had been moving faster he would have been head on with the car and he may not have been here today.”
She added: "The road is simply not safe."
The mother-of-two was one of around 50 villagers, ranging from schoolchildren to pensioners, who spelled out their concerns to highways officers at the meeting at the Cookham Parish Council offices.
It was called after another accident involving a youngster happened on the road in October.
Mother-of-two Sharon Price, 38, a personal trainer of Burnt Oak, has to cross the road five or six times daily to take her children to and from school.
She said: “My main concern has always been that lower Road is very fast and very busy.
“It’s a road used by lots of pedestrians but there’s no where safe to cross that isn’t obstructed by parked cars or bins in the road.”
A zebra crossing was among the more popular ideas put forward by residents.
Parish council chairman Derek Fry said fellow councillors had “pushed hard” for one to be put in place for years.
However, the proximity to the level crossing by the railway station and the number of shops made it difficult to find the right location, he said.
Cllr Fry said, despite this, a suitable location was available: “I agree entirely with the idea that it should be put outside the chemist, that would an ideal place, that’s where it should be.”
Other suggestions offered by those at the meeting were traffic ‘calming’ measures like speed humps or introducing a 20mph zone in the area.
Officers said they will first undertake a speed survey to assess the scale of the problem and compile evidence.
This will take around five to six weeks.
A flashing speed indicator, showing drivers how fast they are travelling, may also be put on the road.
The device has been widely used in other parts of Cookham and makes drives consider their speed more carefully, officers said.
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