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Regents Park Community Primary School
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Dear Parents/ Carers,
I'm sure many of you are aware of the car accident that happened outside school at the top of Dixon Road on Tuesday 19th October after school at 3.10pm. The car was attempting to turn around at the top of the road outside the school gates when it mounted the pavement, drove at speed into a garden and collided with the front wall of two of the houses. Had children or parents been crossing or walking on the pavement they would have been seriously injured if not killed. Thankfully, nobody in the houses was injured (although there has been damage to their properties) and the driver only sustained minor injuries.
Although the driver of the car was not a parent from our school, I think this incident highlights the dangers of cars outside school before and at the end of the school day.
I have sent messages to all parents before where I have raised my concerns about cars that drive up to the school gates on Camelot Way, Dixon Road and Arthur Street. The problem is that all three roads are dead ends so any cars that travel down them to the school gates have to turn round and it's then when I think children are most at risk.
I have had parents say to me "I'm a very good driver and I think I know how to turn around without running children over" - my reply is that you may be a good driver but children are not always good pedestrians and are liable to do unpredictable things like walk into driver's blindspots behind cars that are reversing. Presumably the driver of the car yesterday would have said they are a good driver but it didn't stop an accident happening which could have killed a child or a parent.
The best way of keeping all the children safe when they are coming into or leaving school is to keep cars as far away from the 3 main entrances into school as possible, either by:
Often parents tell me that they can't leave the car at home or park away from school as they have to drop children off at different schools or they have to rush to work. I then watch them sitting in traffic as cars get stuck trying to drive up or down Camelot Way or Dixon Road and I think that if they'd parked and walked they would have been on their way quicker.
As many of you know, I spend a lot of time reminding parents not to park on zigzag lines, double-park, mount pavements, drive at speed and turn around outside the school gates. I know that most parents know that I only do this in order to keep their children safe and appreciate this. However, some parents continue to have to be reminded and a very small minority have been argumentative even to the point where I have been verbally abused and threatened.
I think the incident on Tuesday after school should be a reminder of why it is important to take the issue of dangerous traffic outside school seriously. This time no one was injured, next time we may not be so lucky.
I am in contact with Birmingham City Council and with Small Heath Police and I am working towards making Camelot Way and Dixon Road car free between 8.30am and 9.10am and between 2.30pm and 3.15pm.
In the meantime, please do everything you can to keep your cars away from the school entrances on Camelot Way, Dixon Road and Arthur Street - park 3-5 minutes away and walk with your child.
If you do have to drive your car to school then please remember to:
Thank you