The petition set up in the name of Bobby Colleran since his tragic death last month has continued to gather momentum, with dozens of volunteers out in force every day collecting signatures to highlight the dangers of the busy road where he died.
Bobby’s family has also launched a fund to raise money in the hope of building a memorial park in his name.
It was set up calling for traffic calming measures on Leyfield Road and surrounding areas of Blackmoor Park Infant and Junior School in West Derby.
Gina McMahon, who created the petition, has said that the next step in the campaign is educating both parents and children to make them aware of the dangers. She told JMU Journalism: “It’s really very sad that it has taken a young boy’s life to make local authorities sit up and listen.
“It’s difficult to know that if this petition was not started would any changes have been made on Leyfield Road or would the council just go ahead with plans to remove a lollipop worker and replace with an additional pelican crossing? We want increased safety measures not replacing one with the other.”
The petition now has over 4,400 signatures online and a further 2,000 on paper and Ms McMahon told JMU Journalism that this has given her something to focus on. She said: “My child has just started this school in September and this road is extremely dangerous – what happened to Bobby was an accident waiting to happen. I’ve witnessed so many near misses. We must not stop until we maximise school road safety on this road.
“I have felt a deep sadness that this has happened to a little boy in our community and we, the parents, could not prevent or protect it from happening. It could have been anyone of our children. I also feel really scared as it could easily happen again tomorrow with such minimal road safety measures.”
Local MP Stephen Twigg has had regular meetings with families in the surrounding area to discuss these safety measures. He told JMU Journalism: “The West Derby community has united in the aftermath of his tragic death and I want to do all I can to help.
“It is so important that the road safety outside Blackmoor Park Infants and Junior schools is assessed and measures are put in place that will improve safety. I am working closely with local councillors and Liverpool City Council to ensure that any actions that are taken are carried out as quickly as possible and will have the greatest impact in the long term.”