Parents in road crossing campaign
31/10/2008
A mother and father are campaigning for new road crossings near to where their 11-year-old daughter was knocked down and seriously injured.
David Lamb and Terri Johnston are calling for pelican crossings in Wylds Lane and London Road near the Tesco Express in Worcester.
They say crossings at this junction may have prevented their daughter McAyla being injured in a crash in September.
The county council said it always listened to road safety suggestions.
McAyla was hit as she crossed London Road while going to the shops near her Worcester home on Sunday 7 September.
Ms Johnston said she was alerted by a loud knocking on the door and her daughter's friend screaming.
"My husband ran down in his socks and I put on some trainers and ran down after him," she said.
"The scene was not something that you ever want to see - a child laying in the road, a pool of blood by their head. It was very graphic and not something that you can ever get rid of."
'Proper crossing'
McAyla suffered multiple injuries, including two fractures to her skull and brain injuries, and remains in hospital.
Ms Johnston said McAyla was "improving every day" but was still unable to stand or walk by herself.
She and her husband said an existing crossing further along London Road was not in the best place.
"Everybody that I have ever spoken to feels that it is an awkward place," she said.
"If a proper crossing is here kids would would use it and everybody would feel a lot safer."
Worcestershire County Council said improving community safety was a priority.
"People's walking habits change and so while we're not aware of any perennial problem for pedestrians at the junction at this time, that might not always be the case," it said.
The council added that areas "where there's the greatest proven need for road safety measures" would attract the necessary funding.
