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Mother of Wakefield boy killed by speeding driver backs school 20mph calls
- By Tom Airey & Tim Muffett
- BBC News
Owen Wightman was playing with a friend when he was struck by a car in Wakefield
The mother of a six-year-old boy who was killed by a speeding driver is backing calls for 20mph zones to be implemented around all UK schools.
Owen Wightman died in 2011 when he was hit by a car travelling at 57mph in a 30mph area while playing near his home.
“If that car would have hit him at 20, he’d still be here,” his mother said.
West Yorkshire-based road safety charity Brake wants the rest of the UK to follow Wales in making 20mph the default limit in all built-up areas.
“His life was only just beginning,” Owen’s mother Joanne Wightman, from Wakefield, told BBC Breakfast.
“Owen had gone to cross the road, he’d only put his leg out and they hit his leg.”
Image source, Getty Images
Speed limits in built-up areas will be reduced from 30mph to 20mph in Wales from September
Many councils have already introduced 20mph zones around schools, but the charity wants a blanket approach across all schools.
“I wouldn’t want any other family to go through what we went through, and what we’re still going through 12 years on,” Ms Wightman added.
Ministers in Wales intend to reduce the default speed limit in urban areas from 30mph to 20mph from September, the the plan has attracted some opposition.
Joanne Wightman says her son had “gorgeous blue eyes” and “walked into a room and lit it up”
“We speak to lots of schools where teachers are doing everything they can to make the roads near their school safe, but ultimately they need support from their local council and decision-makers,” Brake campaigns manager Lucy Straker said.
“Why do we have to wait until a child is killed before we act?”
Beth Proctor, a primary teacher in Rotherham, is backing calls for lower limits around schools
More than 700 schools and nurseries are taking part in a walk organised by Brake on Wednesday as part of the campaign, including Wickersley Northfield Primary School.
Beth Proctor, a teacher at the school in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said she would like the speed limit outside Wickersley Northfield reduced from 30mph to 20mph.
“It’s not going to change your travel time dramatically and it will keep our children safe,” she said.
“We’ve got a nursery across the road, we’ve got parents who are dropping off, so it can get very busy with children crossing roads.”
