Crossing near-misses brings change of school

Two near-misses at a Carterton pedestrian crossing have had a mother send her children to a school further away from her home because of safety fears for her children crossing the road.
Karen Johnson, a Carterton mother-of-three, has witnessed two occasions of following cars not stopping at the pedestrian crossing outside South End School, endangering her own safety and that of her children.
On both occasions the vehicles behind had shunted cars already stopped at the pedestrian crossing when they failed to stop for the cars in front.
She recalls the incidents in the same week that Josh McRae, 7, was hit by a vehicle at the crossing on his way to school and though he escaped injury the incident had left the mother of the child involved in an altercation with the driver.
On one occasion on the day before Waitangi Day last year, Mrs Johnson was waiting at the crossing with her child, Oliver, who was on a bike, when a truck that had failed to stop shunted a vehicle towing a trailer that had stopped to let her across, pushing it straight through the crossing.
"The truck came and hit the car and shoved it right across the crossing with the trailer. It was very scary," she said.
"The truck put on its brakes and screeched and crashed.
"I screamed and they (South End Playcentre staff) came running out because they thought a child had been hit.
"It was quite an eye-opener for my son. I took him to see the damage on the car afterwards. It really impressed on him the need to be so careful on that crossing. It's been very traumatic the whole thing for us."
In another incident, about two years ago, Mrs Johnson was pushing a pushchair and was waiting to cross at the crossing when a vehicle rear-ended another which had, again, stopped to let her cross.
The near-misses have meant Mrs Johnson, because of fears for her children's safety, has sent her children to Dalefield School instead of South End, which is closer to her home.
"All three of my children have gone to that kindy (South End) but that's one of the main reasons that they don't go to that school. It just really freaks me out. I couldn't bear to let them go to that school because it's way too dangerous.
"All the near-misses so far have been so lucky. It's only a matter of time before something bad happens and it's only a matter of time before somebody pays the price for it."
Earlier this week, Masterton police Sergeant Chris Megaw said any school that is on a state highway, as is the case with South End and Featherston schools, heightens dangers for children crossing the road.
"Any school on a state highway, like South End School, carries a greater risk for the children from speeding motorists.
"There's a higher volume of traffic and at that location there's a school and a kindergarten feeding in more numbers of people.
"Luckily the boy was not injured and most drivers are adhering to speed limits near schools. But we're still dishing out a lot of speeding tickets in those areas though and will keep on doing so to get the message through."