12 April 2011

Scooter involved in Bonython collision

| johnboy
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A 9-year-old boy is in a critical condition at The Canberra Hospital following a collision with a car earlier this morning (Tuesday, April 12)

About 9am the boy was on his way to school on his scooter when he has collided with a car on Hurtle Avenue, out front of Bonython Primary School.

ACT Policing’s Collision Investigation and Reconstruction Team is investigating the collision.

Hurtle Avenue is temporarily closed while police conduct investigations.

The boy is being treated at The Canberra Hospital for head injuries.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision are asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers website on www.act.crimestoppers.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

hurtle avenue bonython

Maos courtesy Google Maps

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Mobug said :

it was a commodore that was involved in this accident.

commodore drivers again! ban them!

#20

BicycleCanberra11:28 pm, 13 Apr 11


BicycleCanberra said :”

I drop my chidren off at school by car every week but I certainty do not park in no stopping zones or on natural strips or double park as many parents do. I am not blaming the car driver but if you a driving a huge 4 wheel drive or a people mover your vision to see children is obscured.

What has the 4 wheel drive (or people mover) got do with this concidering it was a commodore that was involved in this accident. Infact the 4 wheel drive that was seen at the accident was driven by the lady who was firt to attend to the child, and able to apply first aid while taking control of all the on-lookers asking them to move their children away and in to class. she Asked someone to get a blanket for the child, Then held him to help arrive . And i must add that the reson for that lady to be driving such a big car (people mover) as you called it, is because she has 5 children of her own. I personly think we are all lucky to have people like herself in our community

drop my chidren off at school by car every week but I certainty do not park in no stopping zones or on natural strips or double park as many parents do. I am not blaming the car driver but if you a driving a huge 4 wheel drive or a people mover your vision to see children is obscured.

BicycleCanberra said :

[

I drop my chidren off at school by car every week but I certainty do not park in no stopping zones or on natural strips or double park as many parents do. I am not blaming the car driver but if you a driving a huge 4 wheel drive or a people mover your vision to see children is obscured.

WHAT? and i mean what has a 4 wheel drive got to do with this? when the car that was involved in this incident was a commodore. In fact the 4 wheel drive that you would have seen at the acident belonged to the lady who was first to the child and was the person who cared enough to provid first aid and controll the situation by asking all the on lookers to take their children away from there, she asked for a blanklet for him and stayed holding him to help arrived. So again what has the 4 wheel drive got to do with this?

sad said :

when you were a 9 year old child did your mum tell you to wear sunscreen, put a jumper on, wear your helmet, look before you cross, brush your teeth?? did you do everything she told you to?? When you were a 9 year old child did your mum tell you to stop backflipping off the side of the pool before you cracked your head open, not to jump off the trampoline like that or you’ll break something, to stop before the corner or you’ll get hit by a car?? Of course she did and of course you didn’t. You were 9 and adults didn’t know what they were talking about. Adults know better and should always be on the look out for children who think we don’t.

For everyone out there claiming to know this boy and then continuing to gossip about helmets, stationary cars and walking streets shame on you! A 9 year old child that you apparently know is lying in an intensive care unit fighting for his life and this is what your doing for him!! I certainly hope that in between your postings you managed to start organising some get well cards to be signed by his class and friends to send him for when he comes out of his coma. And of course the cards from yourselves to. . . considering you know him and all.

well said

crankypantswhatsup12:00 am 15 Apr 11

I do not agree with banning cars away from the school, the principal needs to organise a better system for pick up and drop off. My son goes to a school where no parent is aloud to get of the car at pick up and drop off time………..unless you park in spaces provided…this is for a school of 700 hundred students and each class teacher walks the class to a meeting point and parents have students name on the windscreen with laminated coating…this system is working well and if all school principals could get together to share ideas and what is working and what is not and ACCIDENTS like this would not happen…….

At this time it is currently not compulsory for helmets to be worn while riding non-motorised scooters in the ACT. In 2004, however, the National Transport Commission restricted the use of scooters on roads, which, among other things, prevented the use of scooters on roads with a speed limit of over 50km/h. The speed limit at the school is 40km/h.

Have just spoken to his mum earlier today. We have been friends since we were both 17 and her son and my son are friends, she has asked me to act on her behalf. He is still the same but tomorrow is another hopeful day. The injuries are pretty serious and can not happen if the car was stationary, impossible actually….there is so many stories going around I was personally told that the woman was on her mobile phone…really??? This happenes all the time and who here has not ever seen that? see? Who is to know? Nobody knows what to believe…

He could have easily have swerved to miss another student coming towards him that was riding a bike, or a person that was walking across him and he lost control and went towards the car……..it could be anything!, It is all just idle gossip…..

And the only person who knows the truth is lying in the ICU unit in Sydney in a COMA…….and the woman who hit him…..well who knows the truth really? I guess we can only depend on the police that were on the scene doing their job and have taken the statements from the witnesses..and i doubt very much that they can tell what has actually happened in a few hours.

And the truth will come out in the end……..in the mean time we should all just focus and pray for him to get better and have a speedy recovery……and at the end of the day accidents happen, it is just a sad fact that it happened to a little man that we all love……xox

georgesgenitals7:03 am 14 Apr 11

sad said :

when you were a 9 year old child did your mum tell you to wear sunscreen, put a jumper on, wear your helmet, look before you cross, brush your teeth?? did you do everything she told you to?? When you were a 9 year old child did your mum tell you to stop backflipping off the side of the pool before you cracked your head open, not to jump off the trampoline like that or you’ll break something, to stop before the corner or you’ll get hit by a car?? Of course she did and of course you didn’t. You were 9 and adults didn’t know what they were talking about. Adults know better and should always be on the look out for children who think we don’t.
For everyone out there claiming to know this boy and then continuing to gossip about helmets, stationary cars and walking streets shame on you! A 9 year old child that you apparently know is lying in an intensive care unit fighting for his life and this is what your doing for him!! I certainly hope that in between your postings you managed to start organising some get well cards to be signed by his class and friends to send him for when he comes out of his coma. And of course the cards from yourselves to. . . considering you know him and all.

It sounds like someone was in their car and a kid on a scooter smashed into them. Of course people feel sorry for the poor kid, but how is dicussing the issues around it offensive? Most people here just want schools to be a safer place.

when you were a 9 year old child did your mum tell you to wear sunscreen, put a jumper on, wear your helmet, look before you cross, brush your teeth?? did you do everything she told you to?? When you were a 9 year old child did your mum tell you to stop backflipping off the side of the pool before you cracked your head open, not to jump off the trampoline like that or you’ll break something, to stop before the corner or you’ll get hit by a car?? Of course she did and of course you didn’t. You were 9 and adults didn’t know what they were talking about. Adults know better and should always be on the look out for children who think we don’t.
For everyone out there claiming to know this boy and then continuing to gossip about helmets, stationary cars and walking streets shame on you! A 9 year old child that you apparently know is lying in an intensive care unit fighting for his life and this is what your doing for him!! I certainly hope that in between your postings you managed to start organising some get well cards to be signed by his class and friends to send him for when he comes out of his coma. And of course the cards from yourselves to. . . considering you know him and all.

BicycleCanberra11:28 pm 13 Apr 11

Holden Caulfield said :

BicycleCanberra said :

I think we should look at banning Cars within a certain distance of schools or at having separate pickup ,drop off locations . Congestion is a major issue at our schools now ,particularly after the school closures

Still making the assumption/assertion that the driver in this case was in the wrong.

I suspect you do that quite a lot.

Of course, motorists do make mistakes and some do so with no apparent care to other road users. That sucks, we all know that.

But let’s at least give the motorist in this context the benefit of the doubt, especially given the first hand reports already posted.

Okay, a designated drop off area might be a very good idea, but how is that going to prevent some kid flying through that area on a scooter or bicycle without a care in the world?

I drop my chidren off at school by car every week but I certainty do not park in no stopping zones or on natural strips or double park as many parents do. I am not blaming the car driver but if you a driving a huge 4 wheel drive or a people mover your vision to see children is obscured.

BicycleCanberra said :

I think we should look at banning Cars within a certain distance of schools or at having separate pickup ,drop off locations . Congestion is a major issue at our schools now ,particularly after the school closures

And then you’d have these issues at the rendezvous point, further from the facilities to assist.

What the Google street view on this post doesn’t show is the new prison style fence that the Education department has installed for security which restricts access to the school at a few certain points and sadly conflicts with cars a children will become worse as a result.

It seems very bizarre. Putting things together, it sounds like the kid went head-first into the side of a car? He must have been moving at a pretty fast clip to have damaged himself so badly. Kids fall off their bikes/collide with things all the time, and usually just bounce, minus some bark and a bit of crying.

As for looking left and right and left again (or was it the other way around?), bring back Hector Cat I say.

Holden Caulfield3:34 pm 13 Apr 11

BicycleCanberra said :

I think we should look at banning Cars within a certain distance of schools or at having separate pickup ,drop off locations . Congestion is a major issue at our schools now ,particularly after the school closures

Still making the assumption/assertion that the driver in this case was in the wrong.

I suspect you do that quite a lot.

Of course, motorists do make mistakes and some do so with no apparent care to other road users. That sucks, we all know that.

But let’s at least give the motorist in this context the benefit of the doubt, especially given the first hand reports already posted.

Okay, a designated drop off area might be a very good idea, but how is that going to prevent some kid flying through that area on a scooter or bicycle without a care in the world?

Holden Caulfield3:29 pm 13 Apr 11

BicycleCanberra said :

This has nothing to do whether the boy was wearing a helmet or not, soon will will have helmets for all children going to school next.Helmets were not designed for impacts with motor vehicles .
Like many schools around Canberra ,there is far too many cars at pick up and drop of times.
The more children that walk, cycle and scooter to school the better and safer it will be for children.
Sadly accidents will happen ,I have noticed several near misses around my children s school but until an accident like this happens then we will take notice of road safety. Which should be the Education departments responsibility not just parents.
Kids should be allowed to play safely in the the neighborhood and walk around by themselves. This what we used to do when we were kids.
Hope the boy is OK.

Wow, what a load of tosh; where to start, haha!

BicycleCanberra said :

I think we should look at banning Cars within a certain distance of schools or at having separate pickup ,drop off locations . Congestion is a major issue at our schools now ,particularly after the school closures

Apart from the issue of just pushing the traffic jam back one block, who is *picking up* their kids at 8:45am? As per comment #9, the kid had no helmet on, and crossed the street without looking, it was a low speed accident.

The issue here is why wasn’t the kid checking L&R before crossing? Why wasnt he taught to look before crossing? If he doesn’t have the concentration to do this, why is he riding to school?

BicycleCanberra said :

I think we should look at banning Cars within a certain distance of schools or at having separate pickup ,drop off locations . Congestion is a major issue at our schools now ,particularly after the school closures

And then you’d have these issues at the rendezvous point, further from the facilities to assist.

BicycleCanberra1:45 pm 13 Apr 11

I think we should look at banning Cars within a certain distance of schools or at having separate pickup ,drop off locations . Congestion is a major issue at our schools now ,particularly after the school closures

BicycleCanberra said :

Sadly accidents will happen ,I have noticed several near misses around my children s school but until an accident like this happens then we will take notice of road safety. Which should be the Education departments responsibility not just parents.

sadly, the most likely outcome is the banning of scooters (at the School). This is already the case at many Canberra schools, and as is usually the case, some poorly behaved children spoil it for all the others. Storing scooters at school is an issue too.

BicycleCanberra9:33 pm 12 Apr 11

This has nothing to do whether the boy was wearing a helmet or not, soon will will have helmets for all children going to school next.Helmets were not designed for impacts with motor vehicles .
Like many schools around Canberra ,there is far too many cars at pick up and drop of times.
The more children that walk, cycle and scooter to school the better and safer it will be for children.
Sadly accidents will happen ,I have noticed several near misses around my children s school but until an accident like this happens then we will take notice of road safety. Which should be the Education departments responsibility not just parents.
Kids should be allowed to play safely in the the neighborhood and walk around by themselves. This what we used to do when we were kids.
Hope the boy is OK.

thats so sad my 2 children know the poor little boy

I want to congratulate the staff at Bonython PS who spoke to the unit the child was in (my daughter’s unit) immediately after the event and organised counselling for those who witnessed the accident as well as the person who immediately treated the child.

My daughter, 8yo, informed me this afternoon that she is indeed friends with the child and was visibly upset by it.

The driver should not be vilified, but I do believe more attention should be given to the speed in which cars travel on Hurtle Ave as it is dangerous for student having to cross the road period. The childrens crossing is behind the school not at Hurtle Ave and I believe there should be one outside the school as well.

I was at the crash site this morning when it happened.
I personally know the child involved as well as the driver of the vehicle, and the person who administered first aid to the young boy.
I will assure you that the driver involved was not driving like a maniac like some above comments would have you believe. She is very upset and will need some sort of counciling.
The young boy involved is known for walking the bonython streets alone day and night and riding his scooter without a helmet also for crossing the road at high speeds without looking.
However it is an extremly sad event and we wish the boy and driver the best.
And hope for a speedy recovery because no matter who is at fault no child deserves this.

God… it doesn’t necessarily take much does it? We are all so fragile… sometimes we forget that…

Give your little ones a hug tonight and let them know you love them… There but for the grace of God…

Sometimes you can’t protect kids from themselves, however much you try.

Really hope the little bloke gets better.

The CT is reporting the boy hit a car that was either moving very slowly or stationary and that the boy was not wearing a helmet.

First of all, I do hope that the little fella pulls through.

According to the CT website, the police are now saying that the vehicle involved may have been stationary at the time, and that the child (not wearing a helmet) was the one that collided with the car. If this is indeed the case, the driver of the vehicle deserves support rather than censure.

Just heard Police on news report. From what I understand it was moving scooter hit stationary car. Little bloke not in great shape. Hope he gets better.

Vehicles (including buses) always speed around these main Bonython streets, usually by those who are cutting through to miss the traffic on Drakeford. This morning there was a police paddy wagon with 2 police persons and a radar (yes they all still do exist) set up at the Athllon Drv end of Barr-Smith Ave, perhaps this would have been better set up out the front of the school instead.

Hope all is ok with the child.

georgesgenitals2:07 pm 12 Apr 11

Very, very sad. Why can’t we have traffic control measures where we actually need.

Hope the poor little kid gets better quickly.

I usually drop my children off at school every morning. This morning I dropped my daughter off there at 8:50am, my son is on camp atm.

Coming out of the school, I noticed many drivers going past the school obviously over the 40km/phr speed limit THIS MORNING.

I had the thought that there needed to be speed bumps here……then as I am out, I hear about that poor little boy.Sadly I believe both my children know this child.

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