Call for crossing where teen died

Parish leaders are calling for a traffic light-controlled crossing on a busy road in Bristol where a 13-year-old girl was killed, it was reported in the Bristol Evening Post today.

Teenager Daisy Witney died when she was hit by a van as she crossed Rodford Way, Yate, last November to go to a friend's house.

Evidence given at the inquest into her death revealed she had not used a pedestrian subway because she had felt intimidated by a group of youths shouting abuse.

As a result of concerns raised after the accident, a survey by South Gloucestershire Council showed nearly 150 people a day ignored the subway and crossed over the road instead.

Town and parish councillors asked South Gloucestershire what it proposed to do with the figures and the council's Mark Perry attended a meeting in Yate to give them an update.

Some ideas already put forward include improving the subway and lighting in the area.

But members of Dodington Parish Council said a light-controlled crossing would be the best option.

The data collected showed that 60 of those crossing Rodford Way at the same place where 13-year-old Daisy, of Badgeworth, Yate, died, were children.

A further 466 people used what was described as an "informal crossing point" further along the road by the Abbotswood Shopping Centre, where a wider pavement meant the road was narrower.

The survey also showed the subway was used by nearly 190 people during the 14 hours the count was carried out.

In total 798 people crossed Rodford Way, along which an average of 4,300 vehicles travel in each direction a day.

Mr Perry, South Gloucestershire's acting group manager for traffic management, told Yate, Dodington, Westerleigh and Chipping Sodbury councillors that road safety officers had also been to schools as a result of the accident and the council had spoken to the police. All information collected would now be put into a report.

He said extra police patrols had also been carried out in the area and the impact of those would be taken into account.

Dodington parish councillor Paul Hulbert pressed for his council to be included in any consultation.

He said: "A lot of people live in Dodington parish.

"We feel rather out of the loop on this and would like the opportunity to comment before anything is set in stone.

"We think a light-controlled crossing on Rodford Way would be more appropriate."

Yate councillor Chris Willmore said: "This is a local problem that needs a local solution."

She said it was nine months since Daisy's death and asked for councillors representing the area to receive the report being prepared as well as members of South Gloucestershire Council's executive.