Parents from a Westmead primary school near the site where a four-year-old boy was hit and killed by a car on Tuesday, said the tragic accident was bound to happen due to dangerous road conditions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The child suffered fatal head injuries after he was hit by a grey Mazda 6 as he tried to cross Hawkesbury Road near Mowle Street with his mother about 4.30pm.
Paramedics performed CPR before taking him to The Children's Hospital, Westmead. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
The boy's mother suffered minor injuries and another boy, 6, who was with the woman, was not injured.
Sarah, a parent at Westmead Public School which is about 400 metres from where the accident happened, said Hawkesbury Road was "chaos" during school term with parents simply ignoring the pedestrian lights and crossing the four lanes between cars.
"It is a very dangerous stretch of road especially near the school," said Sarah, whose daughter is in year 2 and who asked that her surname not be published.
"The parents, a lot of them, are quite ignorant when they are crossing the road. People ignore those school zones, so many drivers just speed through there, something needs to be done it."
Sarah said the principal and deputy principal were routinely out on the street during school pick-up hours to control the pedestrian traffic.
"It’s just so overpopulated. It’s absolute chaos, especially the pick-up times. There’s no parking for the parents, people are double parking," she said.
A number of people connected with Westmead Public School also offered their condolences on the NSW Police Force Facebook page and claimed they regularly saw people jaywalking across the four lanes of traffic.
"Despite pedestrian lights 100m away so many people cross at that spot," said one parent whose son attends the school.
"There are huge signs and many school day afternoons the principal or deputy stand at that section and stop parents dragging students and siblings across 4 lanes on traffic."
"I work at Westmead school & that road is so bad," another person said. A number of users wrote that Hawkesbury Road was extremely busy given a primary school and high school are located nearby, along with shops, Westmead train station and Westmead Hospital.
A woman, 46, who was driving the Mazda was not injured but was taken to hospital on Tuesday for mandatory blood and urine tests.
Holroyd police continue to investigate and have asked any witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers.
- with Emma Partridge
