Safety Review for Effingham Primary School

Published on: 22 Mar, 2019
Updated on: 24 Mar, 2019

St Lawrence Primary School Effingham – Photo Chris Dick

By Rebecca Curley

local democracy reporter

Highways officers are going to carry out a safety review around a primary school where a child was hit by the wing mirror of a passing car and a lorry crashed into railings.

Parents said levels of traffic around St Lawrence Primary School in Effingham had now made roads “unacceptably dangerous” to cross.

A petition was drawn up calling for a review of safety in the area to “prevent life-changing or fatal injury” to children.

One mum, Claire Jones, whose two children attend the school, presented the petition to SCC/GBC Guildford Joint Committee on Wednesday (March 20 2019).

She said the school was on the corner of a busy junction with four roads and attempts to slow cars down had had no effect.

She said: “I consider that currently, it is an unacceptably dangerous road to cross. And it concerns me more now my children are coming of an age where they are encouraged to walk on their own without a parent to watch for them on the roads.”

She said parked cars also had an impact on moving cars trying to get by.

She added: “I have seen many cars parked very dangerously making it impossible for children to cross further up the road. We believe it’s only a matter of time before there could be a major accident happening on this junction.”

One child, she said, had been hit by a vehicle’s wing mirror as it passed and a lorry had collided with railings.

The school is near a double roundabout between Effingham Common Road, Lower Road and a junction with Church Street.

Duncan Knox, SCC road safety manager, said he had spoken to the headteacher of the school and that a full site visit by highways and road safety officers would be carried out “in a few days”.

He said they will come up with some safety measure ideas but they will be subject to funding.