New safety study into dangerous school route (From Gazette & Herald)

New safety study into dangerous school route

PUPILS condemned to walk to school on one of Britain's most dangerous roads will not be celebrating international school walking week this week.

Parents in Wombleton, along with the parish council, have been fighting for a school bus service to take 21 children from the village to Ryedale School in Nawton for more than a year.

At present, the county council has outlined three routes for the children to take on foot. The first involves using the A170 Scarborough to Thirsk road, which was found in a recent AA-funded study to have an 'unacceptable' level of road deaths, and deemed to be one of the most dangerous roads in Britain.

The other, lengthier routes are isolated and do not have suitable lighting or footpaths.

Consistent public pressure has so far gone unrewarded, but that could change this month with another police safety assessment due to take place.

David Lindsay, road safety officer for North Yorkshire County Council, said: "Following a referral to the ombudsman, the county council has agreed to hear another appeal about the decision on this route.

"We are currently waiting for the police to carry out a reassessment of it.

"However, the survey which found the A170 to be high risk was referring to the whole road, and we are only talking about a 400 yard stretch of it that the children would have to use. Furthermore, none of the deaths recorded have involved pedestrians."

This is not a satisfactory answer for Pat Lane, chairman of Wombleton Parish Council, who said: "The reason there have been no accidents involving pedestrians on the A170 is that no one in their right mind would walk on such a dangerous road."

Mrs Sue Sharples, mother of 16-year-old Lauren Sharples, has been campaigning from the beginning.

She said: "You would have to be crazy to send your children out in the dark. I'm all for children walking to school if it's safe, but its not.

"What price can you put on a child's head? Do we have to wait until there is an accident before they are willing to spend the money?

"And apart from the safety issue it's just not practical. My daughter went to school today with a full hockey kit, ingredients for a cooking lesson and a school bag full of books.

"The thought of her walking down a busy A170 with cars zooming past carrying all that is just ridiculous."

The assessment is due to take place before the end of October.

Central Government recently lifted restrictions on how far a child had to live from a school before they were entitled to bus provision, leaving it to the discretion of local authorities.

Updated: 10:48 Wednesday, October 08, 2003