Newspapers, What Can't They Do..?

The father of a schoolboy who was hit by a car on a busy road has thanked the Surrey Comet, after its two-year campaign convinced Transport for London (TfL) to propose new safety measures.

Oh? How so?

Following the death of the Robin Hood Primary School pupil, the Surrey Comet appealed to TfL calling for the speed on the A3 service road to be reduced from 30mph to 20mph through our Stop, Look and Listen to Us campaign.

Ah, I see. A speeding driver was the cause of this kid's death. What was he doing, 40mph? 60mph?

Well, according to the newspaper's previous report...no.

He wasn't speeding at all:

A semi-pro footballer who knocked an eight-year-old boy off his bike said he "shot out" in front of him, a coroner's court has heard. Taxi driver Kevin MacLaren, who plays for north London non-league team Hendon, said he slammed the brakes as Ali Nasralla was hit by his side wing mirror in Robin Hood Way in Kingston Vale on March 5.

Hmmm. But wait! There's no mention of speed, so he must have been going too fast to stop?

He said he was driving around 25mph, below the 30mph speed limit, when the youngster "came out of nowhere".

Ah, but that's just what he said, right?

In a statement read out by the coroner, Ali's nanny Badria Akil said the youngster had been riding his bike, a month old birthday present from his mother Susan.

She said that she was "frightened" to give the bike to Ali to as he was not very experienced, but Ali's mother wanted him to get experience.

She said: "He would not listen to me... he was riding so fast.

"I told him to take it slowly and shouted at him to stop but the distance kept on getting bigger between us."

She said Ali rode straight past the family home on Robin Hood Way up to a nearby mini supermarket. It was on the way back that he was hit by the black cab.

Ms Akil said: "I shouted to him 'there is a car', a taxi, but he went straight into the road instead of the pavement."

So the 20mph reduction is just a feel-good exercise, and the paper neglects to mention the part played by the kid in contributing to his unfortunate demise.

Newspapers, great beacons of truth. But only if you've the time & inclination to read the previous issues.