A MUM of two was petrified after her youngest daughter had a near-miss incident on a zebra crossing.

St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, in Somerville Road, Bournemouth, launched a petition in February to make the school safer.

The petition was created after a near miss with a child and a motorist on a zebra crossing outside the school, in West Hill Road.

Bournemouth Echo:

Now, a second child recently experienced a near miss with a car that has sparked questioning to the council as to why no works have begun to alter the road to be made safer for pedestrians.

Stephanie Smith was walking her daughter Savannah, 7, when the pair came close to a serious crash on the zebra crossing outside the school.

They were both shaken by the experience.

Stephanie said: “It was really scary.

“There was a car coming on the right and a red car on the left.

“Suddenly this car started to come onto the crossing.

“It started driving forward and they had to slam on their brakes, Savannah was on my right and the front of the car literally stopped halfway in front of me.

“The car was literally two inches away from us.

“BCP Council said works to bring the new speed limit would begin at Easter and finish in Spetember, but no one's heard anything yet and there's nothing that's been put in place.

“There are also plans for speed bumps in that road as well. But again, nothing happened about that either.”

Bournemouth Echo:

Headteacher, Anthony Evans, said: “We're saddened that it's the second time this has happened to one of our children.

“We're aware that there are safety measures going to be in place and our school parliament petitioned the local council to make this zone 20 mph. But still, we haven't seen any change.

“Our children and families take their lives in their hands when they go along here because cars can go up to 50 mph without being stopped there.

“We'd like drivers to take more care, and I'd like to sleep at night and not worry about children crossing here to come to school or go from school.”

A BCP Council spokesperson said: "Works to improve road safety in this area are in progress as planned and are anticipated to be completed by the end of September 2024."