A Liverpool schoolboy has been left terrified of going to school after a near miss on his morning journey.
Jacob Sheridan, nine, joined hundreds of learners gearing up to head back into the classroom at Gilmour Junior School, Garston, after their six week break last month. However, the year five pupil was the subject of a near miss as he crossed the road to meet a friend and has been left suffering from flashbacks and increased anxiety.
Jacob, accompanied by dad Hugh, walked out from their car sandwiched between a number of parked vehicles and was just inches away from a car coming along Whitehedge Road. The boy was left shaking by the experience, suffering from shortness of breath while meeting with the school’s headteacher with his father.
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Jacob admitted he loves being in school but he doesn't like "going to school". Dad Hugh said more needs to be done in the surrounding roads enveloping the school to protect young people.
He said: “The busiest road is Whitehedge road where there are no signs indicating that a school exists, there are no speed limit signs close to the school, there are no yellow zig zag lines or any no stopping signs. My wife made a complaint last year and I know many parents are fearful of a child getting injured, or worse.
“I am very sad to say that I don’t believe the school is safe for children to enter and exit from.” Hugh said he and his family had watched matters “get worse over the last few years” and lamented the lack of controls preventing residents and other parents parking on pavements as close to the school gates as possible.
He added: “If a 4ft child runs out of a school gate through the gap of the parked car on the pavement both the child and the driver have no chance. As a family we have watched it get worse over the last few years and yet nothing seems to be done.”
“When Jacob had such a near miss on the first day of term I said to the headmaster that we have to change this.” Hugh contacted Cllr Lynnie Hinnigan, to enlist support and ask for something to be done.
Cllr Hinnigan met with representatives from Liverpool Council’s highways team and school officials on Thursday to discuss the issues raised. A spokesperson for Liverpool Council said: “We were able to conduct a site visit where we met with parents and representatives of the school as well as Cllr Hinnigan.
“There are already some measures in place around the school, including a 20mph zone and traffic calming measures. “However, we understand the concerns which have been raised and we have agreed to explore the following measures for the area: a pedestrian guardrail outside of the school gate, double-yellow lines around the junctions, bollards around the junctions to deter parking, single-yellow lines along Whitehedge Road to deter parking on the footway, enforcement of restrictions, and an experimental one-way system around the school to reduce the number of vehicle conflicts and dangerous manoeuvres.”
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