Corey Jarrett is bruised and battered but lucky to be alive after being hit by a car near his school.By Sarah Schwager
A CRANBOURNE West boy was hit by a car near his school last Friday amid concerns another crossing is needed on the street.
Police said eight-year-old Corey Jarrett and his friend were crossing Duff Street near Cranbourne West Primary School shortly after school had finished when Corey hesitated and was struck.
He was flipped into the air and landed on the road, then got up and ran to the nature strip before collapsing.
Corey was taken to Frankston Hospital for observation but was released relatively unscathed.
His mother, Hillary Jarrett, was at work when she received a call that her son had been hit.
“I was a total mess not knowing how bad it was,” she said.
“It was just horrible.”
Ms Jarrett said Corey was very lucky and, while badly bruised, was pretty much back to normal.
“This is a valuable lesson for him,” she said.
But Ms Jarrett said drivers had to be much more careful around school zones.
“People just don’t slow down,” she said.
The mother of five said the incident was a warning to children and other drivers that these things do happen and she was glad this time it had not been worse.
“It is lucky for my son and for that driver that no-one was seriously injured,” she said.
Cranbourne West resident Irene Zentay, who arrived at the scene shortly after the incident, said the section of road had been an accident waiting to happen.
When the nearby shopping centre was constructed the crossings were realigned, and Ms Zentay said children were now running across the road to get to the shops instead of using the crossings.
Cranbourne West Primary School student welfare coordinator Colin Wagg said the school always warned children about using school crossings.
Mr Wagg said there may need to be another pedestrian crossing installed further down Duff Street.
Cranbourne police said the investigation into the incident was still continuing.
A 16-year-old Cranbourne boy has been charged on summons with leaving the scene of the accident, failing to render assistance and for driving unsupervised as a learner driver.
