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Tolworth Girls' pupil hurt after second Surbiton road accident

12:52pm Wednesday 24th September 2008

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A 14-year-old girl has been rushed to hospital after being hit by a car in Surbiton, just half a mile from where another teen was hit last week.

The Tolworth Girls’ School pupil is thought to have broken her arm and leg after being struck by the car in Thornhill Road at about 6pm last night.

“Before long, someone will have a really serious accident along here. We need warning signs or cameras and zebra crossings for the kids.”

Deb Clark

The road was closed for about an hour and the K1 bus, which runs down the road, suffered severe delays.

Thornhill Road residents had complained to Kingston Council the 20mph speed limit was being ignored and are now planning to start a petition to increase road safety.

Deb Clark, 41, said: “I’ve been living here for five months and this is the third incident I’ve seen. The speed bumps don’t make drivers slow down and there aren’t any signs to say slow down.

“Before long, someone will have a really serious accident along here. We need warning signs or cameras and zebra crossings for the kids.”

Neighbours believe she was part of a large group of teens who had been hanging around the junction of Agar Close before the accident happened.

One resident, who heard a scream and saw the injured girl wrapped in a blanket in the road, said: “All the kids are lovely round here. I nearly broke down in tears when I saw her.”

The girl is now recovering at Kingston Hospital.

Last Wednesday, Southborough sixth form pupil Sung Yleung Lee was flung six metres in the air after being hit by an ambulance outside his school in Hook Road.

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bigmac22, Surbiton says...
1:17pm Wed 24 Sep 08

I feel deeply sorry the ordeal this child has suffered and yes drivers need to slow down. But a number of times I have had to brake sharply as students insist on crossing both red lion road and thronhill road by running between parked cars. Not only do the children not stand a chance but I also feel sorry for the poor driver who can not brake in time, even from 20mph and hits them. Road safety education applies to both drivers and and the children.

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ric, kingston says...
8:45am Thu 25 Sep 08

first things first.

was the car speeding?

if it was me that hit the girl and i was driving within the law. i would be disapointed that the finger was being pointed at me when i was totally inocent.

its a narrow road. with parked cars either side and the K2 bus goes down it. its never going to be safe.

send a police man to nearby schools and warn them of the danger of crossing between parked cars.

you put a zebra crossing and the kids wont use it. and we all know cameras dont save lives.


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SteveC1964, Kingston says...
10:38am Thu 25 Sep 08

Ric, speed cameras make most people slow down and red light cameras deter drivers from going through red lights, wouldn't you say? This residential road already has humps on it, has it not?

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Fred1, Surbiton says...
3:01pm Thu 25 Sep 08

ric says the road is never going to be safe, but I think that simply won't do. The road is a residential road; it *has* to be made safe.

If the narrowness, the parked cars and the K2 are causing problems, then we're just going to have to widen the road, slap parking restrictions on it and reroute the K2. (Splitting hairs, it's actually the K1 that goes along the road, not the K2, but my point still stands.)

Having said that, narrowness of streets tends to make cars go slower rather than faster, so I strongly suspect that the narrowness isn't the problem. But I do agree that parked cars can create visibility problems. It's all very well to say that people shouldn't cross from between parked cars, however, if cars are parked end-to-end all the way along the whole length of the street, then there isn't really an alternative, short of building a bridge or digging a subway, which I think would be a bit of an overkill for what is supposed to be a residential back street. And besides, people aren't going to climb steps to use bridges and subways unless there's a central barrier, like there is on the A3. And how do you cope with people in wheelchairs?

Thing is, on a residential street, people do need to be able to park near the dwellings. So extra parking restrictions are unlikely. But it also needs to be safe for children.

Now, if the design of the road is such that drivers are encouraged to drive in a way that they can't stop if someone suddenly appears from behind a parked car - then that's a problem, and it needs to be changed one way or another.

I think you could do worse than have a residents-and-buses-
only vehicle gate at one end of the street.

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bigmac22, Surbiton says...
5:31pm Thu 25 Sep 08

There are numerous traffic islands the length of Thornhill road that persons can use to cross safely. There is simply no need to cross between parked cars by running. I was taught the green cross code at school and i know not to run, or cross between parked cars.

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ric, kingston says...
9:29am Mon 29 Sep 08

yeah sorry i meant K4

the speed humps down the road are the type designed for buses. so basically you can just fly over them like they arent there. so there is no point them being there at all.

unless your car is very low that is. like mine.

if you got to the local schools and educate them properly then nearly 100% of the children that are at danger will be warned.

tell me a way you can warn nearly 100% of the random drivers that use the same road?

you cant.

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