Safety options explored after pupil hit by car

Police and Mataura Primary School are investigating implementing safety options at a pedestrian crossing on State Highway 1 in the town after a 10-year-old girl was hit by a car on Wednesday morning.

Dayna Turnbull (10) and her brother Bailey (8) were walking to school with their safety vests on when Dayna was hit by a southbound car at the Main St crossing at 8.15am, Constable Leigh Waddell, of Mataura Police, said.

Dayna sustained a compression fracture to her spine as a result of the accident, Const Waddell said.
The 41-year-old female driver had turned out of Bridge St on to Main St when the accident happened. Speed was not a factor in the accident.

However, police were still investigating the accident and were yet to decide if they would lay charges, Const Waddell said.

"She's [the driver] really upset about it. She didn't see the wee girl,'' she said.

Bailey and Dayna had stopped at the crossing and looked both ways to check for traffic before attempting to cross the road, Mataura Primary School principal Susan Dennison said.

The children thought the car was slowing down to stop.

The driver stopped immediately at the scene, Const Waddell said.

"The car hit Dayna and it just about hit me,'' Bailey said.

Dayna and Bailey's father, David Turnbull, works at Taylor Auto on Main St near the crossing where the accident happened.

While Mr Turnbull did not see the car hit his daughter, he heard the noise of the accident and was on the scene immediately.

Mr Turnbull said staff at Taylor Auto heard the screeching of cars braking in a hurry to avoid accidents every week.

He said it was an extremely busy stretch of road and there needed to be safety measures implemented.

One option would be barrier arms and stop signs or school patrols, he said.

Const Waddell said police and the school would be working with the New Zealand Transport Agency and Opus to assess options that would improve visibility to increase safety.

Until safety measures were fully investigated, a school patrol would probably be implemented, she said.

The patrol would probably be manned by school staff, parents and community volunteers.

On Wednesday, Const Waddell, Mrs Dennison and school pupils practised safe ways to cross the busy State Highway 1 crossing to minimise the risk of further accidents occurring.

This was the second incident involving a vehicle and a school pupil in the past two years, Mrs Dennison said.

The first incident involving a pupil happened in 2007.

A northbound car narrowly missed a pupil but the car following the first vehicle crashed into the first car, Mrs Dennison said.

"Both cars were written off.''

"It's a main thoroughfare and there is lots of traffic,'' she said.

Mrs Dennison said she would send a letter to the Mataura Community Board highlighting her concerns.