Pupils win new crossing after voicing safety concerns
Devon County Council has praised the youngsters for taking a stand and pledged they will be asked to help find a solution
Last updated 8 hours ago
A group of teenagers has called for changes - saying roads around their school are becoming increasingly dangerous.
The pupils, aged 13 to 15, from Dawlish College spoke at a meeting of Devon County Council's Highways and Traffic Orders Committee, saying: "One pupil was hit and taken to Exeter's R,D and E and then airlifted to Bristol Children's Hospital for an operation on their head."
The teenagers have carried out their own survey to understand the true scale of the problem, saying in a joint interview: "We found that over three-quarters of pupils were affected in some way in terms of road safety. That's 173 that have almost had a collision with a car and nine of them have been hit.
"What's even more alarming is that lots of those pupils at the time were in Year 7 and so maybe had only been attending the school for probably two or three months.
"When we think about all of the people who have been hit or who have close calls it is worrying and it's deeply concerning - because we deserve a safe place to cross the road."
Another pupil revealed some youngsters are now too scared to cross the road near to their school as they worry about an incident.
Deputy head Kate Bukowski revealed that pupils have seen each other being injured and so have staff, adding: "I'm on duty every morning and so I'm outside on the road every morning and I see children between cars and I see cars pulling out - and there are lots of near misses every day."
County Councillor for Dawlish Rosie Dawson supported the school before the committee and afterwards welcomed the decision that some form of crossing will be designed by the Summer term - and pupils will be the number one stakeholders and consultees in designing the scheme.
She added: "I'm so proud of them."
The changes will likely also benefit the nearby primary school around the A379 junction and Elm Grove Road - although money to fund the scheme would still need to be found by the county council.
Cllr David, Cox, chair of the committee, also praised the teenagers saying: "They made very pertinent points and the councillors were very impressed with their passion and commitment and maturity - and we hope we've got a way forward that they agree with."
They youngsters were applauded at the end of the meeting.