‘An electric scooter came out of nowhere and nearly crashed into our six-year-old’ – south Dublin parents call for safety around school
Parents and staff at a Dublin school are worried that pupils could be faced with “severe accidents or even death” in the absence of basic safety measures in the area.
Kate McCreesh, who has two children enrolled at St Cillian’s National School in Bluebell, said: “There is nothing to even highlight there is a school there.”
She said most schools in Dublin have bollards and speed ramps outside.
“We don’t have any of these or even some signage or a notice for motorists about speed limits. So that means a lot of cars driving at high speeds in this small road where kids could be at any time,” she said.
Ms McCreesh lives in Ballyfermot – a nine-minute drive away from the school – and she has been among a group of parents calling for South Dublin County Council (SDCC) to introduce more safety measures in the area.
“A few months ago, my husband James was crossing the road with our six-year-old when, out of the corner of his eye, an electric scooter came out of nowhere and crashed into him,” she said.
“It came flying up the road extremely fast – it could have hit our son if James didn’t push him out of the way. The person continued on. We know of near misses like this happening with cars as well.”
The school has 33 students and just two classrooms – one for junior infants to second class, and one for third to sixth class.
Principal Ronan Hickey has been campaigning for traffic-calming measures.
“What I’ve been trying to do is get SDCC to improve the condition of the road or, at the very least, some kind of speed hump. It would get people to drive slower around there,” Mr Hickey said.
“The road itself is in a bad state with bumps and potholes. There are children there and they are vulnerable.
“Myself and the members of staff are always thinking that a child could be knocked down or killed.
“We’re always on guard. In the rare chance that a child runs out there at the wrong time it could lead to a severe accident or something as terrible as a death. It’s always on our minds.”
A spokesperson for SDCC said its traffic and road safety section had recently visited the school after being made aware of the concerns.
“Currently, measures at this location include double yellow lines, safety bollards and school road markings, as well as the assignment of a school warden to a dedicated school crossing,” the spokesperson said.
“It is acknowledged that some of the road markings have become faded, and a referral has been made to our road maintenance section.
“It was also noted that there is an amount of commercial activity in the vicinity of the school which is outside the remit of the council. In summary, there are no proposals to install any additional technical interventions at present.”