Christchurch driver comes forward after failing to stop for child at road crossing

A driver who failed to stop for a child at a Christchurch road crossing in a near “catastrophic event” has come forward, police say.

In the video posted to Facebook by Canterbury Police last week, a child can be seen waiting to cross a busy road with their parents.

As the pedestrian light turns green, the child steps out to begin crossing the road at the Heaton St and Strowan Rd corner.

An oncoming vehicle, failing to stop at a red arrow for turning right, narrowly misses the child, thanks to a parent calling from the footpath for them to come back.

However, police said the driver responsible for what “could have been a catastrophic event” has since come forward and faced enforcement action.

It said the driver had “genuine remorse for their driving and impulsive actions that day”.

“This is one example of how quickly an error can develop into unforeseen consequences when other unpredictable behaviour contributes to the initial poor driving.

“Police also acknowledge the comments that refer to the impulsive action of the child running across the pedestrian crossing, and whilst was on a green pedestrian light this illustrates how important it is for everyone to be educated on road safety and care.

“Police see this cumulative risk all the time, especially at serious injury and fatal crashes when failure to comply with basic road rules then amplify into much serious events.

“Everybody deserves to be safe on our roads.”