Parents' plea - Injured girl's family calls for council to reduce speed limit

Updated September 25 2012 - 11:46am, first published 10:54am

THE distraught family of a Leeton schoolgirl who was struck by a car last week has pleaded for council to lower speed limits along the busy road.About 4pm on Thursday, 13-year-old St Francis College student Nikea Coram had just got off the school bus and was crossing Lillypilly Road when she was struck by a Holden Commodore, while 20 students still on board watched in horror.The girl was initially transported via ambulance in a critical condition to Griffith Base Hospital.She was airlifted to the Sydney Royal Children's Hospital at about 9pm on Thursday night in a serious but stable condition, arrving at 11.20pm.The girl sustained serious head injuries, including a fractured skull and swelling on the brain, a broken pelvis and a fractured shin bone.She had yet to undergo surgery as of yesterday as surgeons were still working to reduce the swelling on her brain.While police established a crime scene at the incident on Thursday, the 21-year-old Leeton driver was questioned by officers but released that night without charge.St Francis College principal Brenda King said all students affected would be offered counselling."We had mass (on Friday morning) and I was able give the whole school a statement," Mrs King said."Nikea is a really nice girl and we will help the family in any way we can."Leeton Shire Council road safety and traffic officer Sandra Robinson said it was a tragic accident but there had not previously been many speed-related incidents on that stretch of road.Mrs Robinson said the 60km/h zone was controlled by the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) and council was not at liberty to change the speed."There have been a couple of crashes there but it's usually just people pulling out of Petersham Road," Mrs Robinson said."If any residents believe the speed limit on any street is unsafe, they can make a request to have it changed by RMS."Council would be happy to look at that possibility, we are always proactively looking at roads."

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