After a series of near misses on both Wade and Pine Avenue, Leeton residents are asking council why no speed bumps have been installed to slow drivers down.
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Both streets experience heavy pedestrian traffic, and have clearly marked pedestrian crossings to enable safe passage to either side.
However many drivers it seems are forgetting, not noticing or just disregarding the crossings and speeding through, resulting in near misses for pedestrians and for other cars driving down these streets who have been in accidents as a result of sudden braking.
Mother of six, Belinda Mahalm said that she has often had scary, near miss experiences from drivers who have not slowed down for the pedestrian crossings without looking or attempting to brake and said that the issue had peaked in the community in recent weeks.
"Just recently I was walking across with my five year old and a ute didn't slow down at all whilst we were crossing the road, if I wasn't holding his hand he would have been hit as I wouldn't have been able to pull him out of the way in time," Mrs Mahalm said.
"We teach our kids that these pedestrian crossings are a safe place to cross the road and they just aren't."
Belinda's husband, Luke shares her concerns about the crossing and has witnessed pedestrians being hit by cars flying down the strip.
"It was only a couple of months ago that an elderly person was struck by a speeding car, by a driver who wasn't paying attention," Mr Mahalm said.
"It's only a matter of time before something like that happens again.
The Mahalm's, like many members of the community believe that raised speed bumps, like the ones installed along Banna Avenue in Griffith would be a perfect solution, and would drastically slow cars down.
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Leeton Shire Mayor, Paul Maytom said that he expressed concerns many years ago about the need for raise speed bumps on Pine and Wade Avenues. Unfortunately, the then NSW Road and Traffic Authority argued that the addition of speed bumps would impede on larger vehicles such as trucks and the case was dismissed.
However in recent weeks, Councillor Maytom said he attended a council traffic committee meeting and pushed the subject again to the committee, placing it on the agenda for the next meeting.
"It is important that the community understands that council has always wanted a raised crossing to better protect the community, especially children and the elderly," Cr Maytom said.
"We have been pushing for raised speed bumps for many years and now hopefully we have an opportunity."
"Even if it is still not a road we own, the RMS will not be able to use the same excuses in relation to inaccessibility for larger vehicles as they have in the past, as we have a very small amount of these vehicles using these streets."
According to Cr Maytom, he is hopeful that at the next traffic committee meeting, the RMS will not be able to dispute the necessity for raised speed bumps along these roads, to better improve the safety of pedestrians crossing the streets and encourage drivers to be safe and vigilant drivers.
"It is an accident waiting to happen and unfortunately I feel like something won't be done until something tragic happens," Mrs Mahalm said.
The meeting will be held sometime in the next two months.
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