Angry mum slams thoughtless drivers

Nov 6 2008 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

Angry mum slams thoughtless drivers

AN ANGRY mum hit out this week at the “selfish and careless” behaviour of parents who pick up and drop off their children by car at a Hamilton primary.

It followed an incident in which a nine-year-old pupil was hit by a taxi outside the school - St Peter’s Primary on Highstonehall Road - on Tuesday afternoon just after 3pm.

An ambulance and police went to the scene, but the boy didn’t suffer any serious injuries.

The concerned mum, whose daughter attends St Peter’s, blamed inconsiderate parents who park outside the school for the incident.

She said they insist on parking as close to the school gate as possible - and on the zig-zag lines designed to keep cars away from the school gate.

“This little boy walked out between two cars parked on the zig-zags, he had no choice because of the amount of parked cars there,” she said.

“Parents want to park as close to the school as possible. But it’s totally selfish. This accident is a result of their actions.

“The boy wouldn’t be able to see what was coming because of the cars parked so closely together.

“What will it take for these parents to change their behaviour? A child could be killed before long.”

She said the school was always “mobbed” with parents dropping off children off just before 9am and picking them up just after 3pm.

She added: “They don’t seem to care about anybody else’s children apart from their own - and that’s reinforced by their speed when they drive off once they have dropped off or picked up their kids from school”.

A South Lanarkshire Council spokesperson said yesterday (Wednesday): “We can confirm that an incident did take place involving a pupil and a vehicle outside the school at the end of the school day on Tuesday, November 4. Fortunately the pupil only received minor bruising.

“Mary Murphy, the head teacher, is working with community police and the parent council to highlight the potential dangers of parents parking so close to the school gates.”