'Does someone need to be killed?'

3:00pm Wednesday 13th August 2008

A MOTHER and daughter hit by a car as they crossed a road have called for change at the "death trap waiting to happen".

Sue Doran, of Queensway Didcot, wants the zebra crossing moved in Wantage Road, after she and her eight-year-old daughter Lucy, both pictured, were badly injured in a collision.

The 40-year-old therapy centre manager fears she and her daughter could have easily been killed.

She said: "I think it's a death trap waiting to happen. Nothing will change, unless someone dies on it. What is the cost of someone's life? I could have been killed.

"The zebra crossing needs to either be a proper pedestrian crossing with traffic lights, or, ideally it needs to be moved, because there is too much going on in that area.

"You have got the garage, pub, shops and main entrance to the Girls' School. It's ridiculous. There's a huge volume of people using it."

The pair were cycling on the zebra crossing, which is close to the Sherwood Road junction, from the BP garage heading towards the Wheatsheaf pub, when they collided with a car coming from the Harwell direction.

Her son, Max, six, was still on the pavement when the incident happened on July 28.

The three were returning home to Queensway on their bikes after visiting friends at The Oval.

She said: "My daughter had severe bruising and abrasions, and I was knocked unconscious and was in hospital for six days. I had a broken leg and a fractured neck, and also ligaments torn in my knee.

"It's affected my daughter because she gets very nervous in the car and doesn't want to go anywhere.

"In two years time, she will be going to the Girls' School and she will have to cross there and a major trauma like this will affect her. It isn't a safe area to cross the road."

A petition is planned to drum up support for her campaign, and she is hoping it will be supported by local schools and MP for Wantage and Didcot, Ed Vaizey.

Ann Tonner, 22, barmaid at the Wheatsheaf pub, said: "I've seen a couple of people knocked over on it. It's not safe at all."

Tony Anchors, 59, of nearby Drake Avenue, said: "It was adequate 40 years ago, but it's just too busy now. Five or six cars will go past before one stops."

Geoff Barrell, head of road safety at Oxfordshire County Council, said there had been one serious accident in five years before the recent incident.

He said: "In comparison with many other areas of the county, this site can in no way be categorised as an accident blackspot. In common with all councils across the country, the county council only has limited funds for road safety schemes, and must devote its annual budget to the most accident-prone areas in Oxfordshire.

"We have no current plans to make changes at this site. Nonetheless, we are always open to dialogue with local people on such matters."

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said officers had been called to the scene at 4.40pm on July 28. A person who was driving a Vauxhall Astra had been reported to police for a driving offence.