So upset by horrendous car accident near my house

[Woodhouse23]

i've NC for obvious reasons as this is very very local to me.

On Friday at 4.15pm an 11-yr-old girl was hit by a speeding car just round the corner from my house.

The little girl is still in a critical condition in hospital. The driver has been arrested.

I am just devastated by this - I keep imagining the parents getting that phone call. My daughter is 12 yrs old and also started secondary school this year and walks home at the same time and route, as do hundreds of others (loads of secondary schools round here). It's only the start of their 2nd term at school so it's still a bit nerve wracking waiting for her to get home, and the roads round here are busy and dangerous.

I am not religious but I am sending absolutely every thought and wish to the little girl and her parents, and just hoping so hard that she pulls through.

www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/23254677.girl-11-hospital-car-crash-friern-barnet/

www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/friern-barnet-live-updates-schoolgirl-25976134

I can understand feeling really affected by something like this. It's that close connection of this being a safe humdrum part of your daily life and your daughter's, and now it's been disrupted with awful senseless danger.

A year 7 girl was killed by a speeding motorbike outside my school when I was in year 9 or so, so I know how horrifying it can be, even if you don't know the individual - it just shouldn't happen. I've never forgotten.

I hope this child pulls through and makes a great recovery. Her family must be going through hell right now.

Reduced speed restrictions only work if enforced properly. Many are little more than advisory as a lot of councils don't do the formal legal procedures when, say, they enforce a blanket 20mph in residential areas, and just putting up the signage doesn't make it legally enforceable. Hence why you have the police campaigns using PCSOs and Specials to record speeding but only send the offender an "advice" letter - they can't prosecute because it's not illegal without the council doing the legal dotted I's and crossed T's. Our local council blanketed our town with 20mph signs a few years ago, but have only just done the legalities to make them enforceable a few months ago!

Even with legal backing, you still need police to be there to stop and report speeding cars. Lots of cars are unregistered to a current address/current owner, so there's no way of tracing the owner if they've been "flashed" by a camera, so the driver will just continue speeding until they cause an accident, and only then will the police start to show an interest!

We had a primary age child hit by a car at my DCs old primary last year. Was awful. Many of us had campaigned a few years before not to remove the crossing guard but cuts meant they were removed. They justified it by there being a crossing at the same place. What they didn't account for was children assuming a crossing means you just cross. The crossing guard used to stop any situations where kids just walked.

She was OK after a few weeks but I was gutted by it because many youngsters saw it and the village was very upset by it. They've still not brought the crossing guard back and people drive like idiots here.

I hope the youngster here makes a full recovery. No one is ever that in a rush or that late they can't go at the speed limit, I think we need to bring those adverts back that would shock people into realising the damage they could do if they drink drive or speed

I can understand your feelings OP. A close relative of mine was killed just after leaving school on a dark winter afternoon. I will never get over the horror and loss. I recently met someone who lived in that city and it turned out that she had lived close by when the accident happened. Although many years ago, she still felt affected by the death of my family member. Your feelings are appropriate and normal.

I just saw something about a mother and a child being killed by a car 😥 It's so scary

Thank you for your kind words and I am so, so sorry for your loss.

It is horrifying really. Just before Covid another young girl lost her life on a Barnet road not far away from this incident (1 mile maybe?) and is still mourned by family, friends and the wider community. It was said the driver was too tired and fell asleep.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8572729/amp/Driver-41-accused-killing-13-year-old-girl-blacked-wheel-court-hears.html

It is a tragedy that children suffer because adults don’t act responsibly. As a nation, we are all in a dreadful hurry.

We have had a few child and teen deaths in the city I live in due to reckless driving. Often the sentences are pitiful.

It always really, really hits me hard, and yes it is frightening for everyone with young people making their way to school every day when you often see such awful driving so regularly. It can be very anxiety producing.

Having empathy for fellow parents who have lost a child is not grief tourism.
Are people not allowed to be upset about a tragic incident?

@Georgeskitchen

I know, especially when it’s so close to your home.

Does anyone know how the girl is or if the driver has been prosecuted?

The Sentences are never long enough.

They are never banned from driving for life.

Lots of it around sadly.

They often kill.other people, but never themselves.