Coming Over Here, Driving Into Our Taxis…

The Romanian had moved to Britain three years earlier and was working as an Uber driver to send money home to his family after his father died.

One can only wonder how he drove his cab..!

CCTV recorded Mr Suruianu’s speed as between 52 and 60mph, but as he was believed to be braking for much of this time, his initial speed was probably higher.

Detective Sergeant Chris Osbourne said: “An average of 70mph would not have been far off it.”

I wonder if he'd have been prosecuted if he survived?

Coroner Dr William Dolman recorded a verdict of accidental death.

There being no verdict of 'totally unavoidable death cause by being a cretin'...

No, Love, I Think You'll Find That's The White Ones...

“I’m now having to explain to my children if the red lights come on at the back of a car [that] it will be going backwards.”

Errr....

No Need To Fear For Them, Eduardo…

The incident happened in Valence Avenue at 4.17pm after the youngster got off a bus and crossed the road.

Neighbour Eduardo Marreno Jumenez spotted the collision and ran over to help the boy.

Hmm, I suspect ‘crossed the road’ means ‘ran out from behind the bus’.

I know this road well. It’s not the first accident here and it won’t be the last.

The 35-year-old, who lives around the corner, said that the incident made him fear for the safety of his own three children.

“It was such a shock to see and so scary that it can happen whenever,” he added.

It very, very rarely happens on proper crossings, so as long as you’ve taught them well, you’ve little to fear.

Toughen Up, Princess!

A scared schoolgirl who was hit by a car in Northfleet is warning children of the "dangers" of crossing the road.

Wondering why ‘dangers’ is in inverted commas? Yeah. Me too.

The experience was both mentally and physically scarring for Nikita, who was signed off school until today.

She added: "It's hard for me to walk.

"I have got lacerations on my foot and the back of my shoes are ruined.

"I am really scared - I don't like the roads. "I want my mum to walk me to school now."

Oh, good grief! You’re eleven, not six!

Nikita said she walked cautiously but could not see past parked cars, and is now warning other kids to stay safe.

She added: "I want them to know about the dangers, because they could get hit like I did.

"Check both ways, or find someone else to look over. "Be careful - it only takes one step."

Yes, one step from between parked cars with limited visibility. Consider this a lesson learned, with – thankfully – no bones broken.

The concerned mum added: "Vale Road is not a road I would recommend any child to use, but unfortunately it's one of the roads children have to use.

"It's quite worrying when you know a young child is walking there or back."

Not if you’ve taught them how to cross the road it isn’t, no.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "Kent Police were called at 4.35pm to reports of a collision between a car and a pedestrian." No arrests were made.

Driver not at fault. QED.

Why Can’t Your Kid Use The One That Exists, Then?

The dad of a nine-year-old injured in a collision with a car in Ripple Road has urged the council and drivers to prioritise road safety.

Thames View Junior School pupil Ayub Mugenyi suffered serious head injuries in the collison opposite Rippleside Cemetery on July 31.

Cue lots of shots of the little tyke looking sad in bandages in the local paper. Plus anguished father bewailing the awful state of affairs.

Dad Abu Mugenyi, 52, said he was at his Rosalind Court home when he was told by a friend of Ayub’s about the crash.

“He came running and said: ‘Your son has been knocked down by a car – I’ve just seen him lying on the floor’,” he said.

“I just ran to the scene and I nearly collapsed because I’m Type-1 diabetic.

“I’m really upset, I really feel bad and have constant headaches and worry.”

Is this a local newspaper interview, Abu, or one you’re preparing for the Benefit Office?

Abu said careless driving blights the area in and around Ripple Road, which has had four crashes since April and says speeding near Rippleside Cemetery is a problem independent from Ayub’s accident.

“People drive too fast in that bus lane,” he said. “People need to drive at 30mph but they don’t – they just fly.”

He thinks a camera might help.

“There should be a speed camera round there and it could do with a zebra crossing for all the kids crossing from school.”

Could it really? Well, here’s the view of that junction:

Gosh, what could that thing in the middle be? A pelican crossing?

So why not use it?

And what’s the official version, since I note no arrest was made at the scene?

A council spokesman said the view of the police and Barking and Dagenham’s road safety team was that the cause of the accident was Ayub entering the bus lane near Rippleside Cemetery.

QED.

Yet Another SMBD* News Story…

Mark Eden, 47, who has lived in Erith Road for 15 years, said it's only a matter of time before someone is killed on the road. He said the situation is particularly bad during rush hour, with parents driving up to the school to pick up their children and youngsters cramming themselves onto buses to get home. He said: "It is terrible - I am surprised people haven't been killed.

"You've got buses racing down, cars racing down, lorries racing down.

"You need a zebra crossing for the kids and a speed camera. It's a death trap that road.

"We've had a car smash into the front of our neighbours house, another one crashing into the wall out here. It is frightening."

Right, OK, got it, the motorist is 100% to blame and…

Wait.

The incident happened at around 3.30pm as children were leaving at the end of the school day.

Pupils have said how the girl - named locally as Caitlin Martin - ran in front of a bus as she attempted to reach her mother on the other side of the road. She is said to have frozen in front of the oncoming vehicle, which was unable to brake in time.

Hardly surprising, and certainly not an attitude confined to children, either. I’ve lost count of the adults I’ve seen in the last few years that have blithely stepped off the kerb into traffic, engrossed in their smartphones or simply failing to look.

The father-of-six added: "Something has got to be done about it. Either a car is going to smash into one kid or a car is going to smash into a group of kids.

"We live here and I cannot even let my kids play at the front of the house. It is like the M25 out there.

"And the way buses speed down there - I feel sorry for the girl."

Maybe you should feel sorry for the bus driver instead?

*Something Must Be Done

Or Maybe You Could Just Teach Your Spawn That The World Doesn’t Revolve Around Them..?

A campaign to provide pedestrian crossings for all schools in Haringey has divided parents.

How…? Surely a crossing is a good thing?

Sengul Gunay, 40, of Amhurst Park and her son Huseyin, eight, walk to Woodberry Down Community Primary School every day.

Mrs Gunay said: “I don’t think crossings would make it any safer, I walk my son to school every day and pick him up afterwards because the roads are so dangerous.

"People are always jumping the lights and banging into each other in their cars so I feel it’s safer if I walk with him.”

‘Always’..? It happens every day? Blimey!

Maxine Saunders, 30, of Hermiston Avenue, Crouch End, has two children attending different schools in the borough and feels zebra crossings are both good and bad for road safety.

She said: “In most cases zebra crossings are better but the problem is kids think drivers will definitely stop and they can just run out and be safe.

"In reality, fewer and fewer people are stopping at crossings near schools because it’s so manic during the school run. I think having a lollipop lady helps make it safer.”

Just tell your kids to wait by the crossing until the car is actually stopping, then (and only then) proceed. It worked when I was taught that. I've managed to avoid being run over.

A Strange Sort Of ‘Respect’…

…but then again, what else would one expect?

The surrounding streets were gridlocked as mourners parked wherever they could find in order to pay their last respects.

How lovely! Meanwhile, some high-speed bandwagon jumping is ongoing:

Coun Dad, who is also Lancashire county councillor for Accrington West, said that although the cause of the crash was still being investigated, he wanted to bring up the issue of safety on Hyndburn Road with the authority’s highways committee.

He added: “We need to learn lessons from these things. I would request the appropriate people look to see how we can make sure nothing like this ever happen again.

“I will certainly be looking to see if we can look at any traffic calming or accident prevention measures.”

This (dangerous driving) seems to be quite a prevalent pastime in certain areas, so it’s hard to see what would do the trick.

Answers on a postcard, perhaps?

I’ve No Doubt, But The Only One Who Could Answer Them Is Dead…

Keith Barrett, a partner at the firm, said: "Mrs Maudsley’s family are devastated by her death and have been left with many questions about whether the collision could have been prevented."

Well, yes. She could have not run out into the road from behind a bus. She was 51 years old, after all, not a toddler.

No, The Road’s Not Dangerous…

...the actions of the pedestrians are, however.

Diana James, 47, said: “After getting off the bus I heard the girl crossed the road between two buses and was hit.

“I think it had been parked behind the bus when it stopped, went round it and sped out without seeing her.

“This road is so dangerous - there have been a few accidents here in the past few years, including two young children who have died.”

 While I'm sure this is a tragedy for the family, it's a little hard to blame the road here. Or the driver:

The driver of the lorry stopped at the scene, on the South Circular road, but has not been arrested.

As we know, that tells you a lot...