Harold Road mother Nasreen Sultana, with children Sarah and Sumyia, is concerned about the road’s safety in the wake of a fatal collision last week.By Shaun Inguanzo
THE TRAGIC death of a young girl in Springvale has propelled fears the road she died on is unsafe for drivers and residents.
A twoandahalfyearold girl was struck by a Nissan sedan, travelling east along Harold Road, Springvale South, last Thursday, 19 January.
It is believed the girl ran out of a driveway on to the road.
Police said the driver, a 57yearold Springvale man, tried to swerve but was not able to avoid hitting the girl.
The child was airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a critical condition with head and spinal injuries, but later died in hospital.
In the wake of the tragedy, Harold Road residents have expressed their condolences to the child’s family and to the driver, blaming the road’s struggle to cope with the urban sprawl for the catastrophe.
Peter Roberts and wife Rita have lived at the Noble Park end of the road for 38 years, and said it had become increasingly busier and more dangerous for drivers and pedestrians.
Mr Roberts objected to a proposed childcare centre in Harold Road late last year, and at the time feared it would have been unsafe for children and their families considering the number of cars travelling along the road.
Mr Roberts this week urged the City of Greater Dandenong to give immediate attention to improving the safety of the road, which he said had not been improved since speed humps were installed more than 10 years ago.
“Unfortunately the driver is going to have to live with this for the rest of his life,” Mr Roberts said. “In a way, he has been sentenced … it will never leave his mind.”
The 65yearold said he and his wife understood the grief the child’s mother was experiencing, having lost their own son about five years ago. “As a parent, I dread to think what the mother is going through,” he said. “My heart goes out to her. The best thing I can say is ‘how are you going? I know how you feel’.”
Another Harold Road resident, Nasreen Sultana, said in the four years she had lived on the road its use had exploded.
In the wake of the child’s death, Ms Sultana said she was ‘scared’ for her own twoandahalfyearold daughter, Sumyia. “Four years ago it was so quiet and nice, but now (the road) is very busy,” she said. Ms Sultana said changing the road’s speed limit from 50km/h to 40km/h, and increasing road signage would help improve the safety of residents and prevent further harm to families and drivers.
City of Greater Dandenong engineering services manager Tim Tamlin said the council was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy, and that it was waiting on VicRoads’ confirmation to install traffic lights at the Springvale Road and Harold Road intersection.
He said the council had been monitoring the speed of cars and had been installing speed humps. “We encourage all motorists to take extra care on our roads, particularly with the new term of school about to commence,” Mr Tamlin said.
