Two children have been hospitalised with serious injuries after being hit by a car near St Edmund’s School. Photo: Supplied.
The ACT Government is looking at what “traffic-calming measures” it may be able to install along Canberra Avenue after last Friday’s hit-and-run, but it says a 40 km/h zone is unlikely.
Two St Edmund’s College students, Aiden, 15, and Aaron, 14, were hit by a car while walking along the road on Friday morning and transported to Canberra Hospital with serious injuries.
It’s alleged 31-year-old Tayler Christian Hazell had stolen the car, a green Holden Commodore wagon, from outside a childcare centre in Queanbeyan, before driving it dangerously along Canberra Avenue.
Hazell allegedly came to a stop near Manuka and attempted to flee, but two tradies from the nearby construction site caught him.
He faced the ACT Magistrates’ Court on Monday, charged with two counts of negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, three counts relating to not giving his particulars to another person after a crash, as well as single counts of unlicensed driving, driving a motor vehicle without consent and dangerous driving.
Parents and staff from both St Edmund’s and the nearby St Clare’s College have been calling for the government to “do something” to slow the traffic down along Canberra Avenue.
“The school has been asking for this for years,” one person said. “It’s the only school in the whole of Canberra without a 40 km/h zone out the front.”
St Edmund’s College student Aaron is recovering well. Photo: Jayne Rizzo.
A previous petition to lower the speed limit along that section of Canberra Avenue to 40 km/h in 2022 attracted more than 500 signatures – enough to be referred to a government inquiry for investigation.
Previous St Edmund’s principal Joe Zavone told Region at the time he was “just really surprised we have students crossing that road every day and it hasn’t been made into a school zone yet”.
In the end, however, the government ruled that given Canberra Avenue is a major arterial road – transporting about 20,000 vehicles a day – “the current reduced speed limit of 60 km/h is appropriate”.
“Introducing a 40km/h speed limit on this road section is unlikely to be an effective measure without extensive traffic calming measures, which are incompatible with this road’s arterial function,” Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel wrote in his response.
He also noted that over the past seven years, a total of 23 crashes were reported along the road, three of which resulted in injury and none involved pedestrians.
However, he said the directorate would “undertake an internal review of traffic movements in this area to inform consideration of other possible interventions, such as a controlled/signalised pedestrian crossing”.
During a press conference this week, Minister for City and Government Services Tara Cheyne said she had asked the government to revisit this decision but didn’t hold out hope there’d be a different outcome on the speed limit proposal.
“I’ve asked for a briefing from TCCS, both with a timeline of representations and options that have been considered in the past and any safety treatments that we might be able to implement,” she said.
“Obviously, Canberra Avenue is an arterial road, and … the main area where children are crossing is also near another intersection, which does make some traffic treatments difficult, but it doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do, and I’ve asked for those options more broadly.”
Minister for City Services Tara Cheyne says she’s working on solutions for Canberra Avenue. Photo: ACT Government.
Ms Cheyne acknowledged the major role “reckless driving” had to play as a reason why lowering the speed limit wouldn’t necessarily improve the situation.
She also noted there is a “safe space to cross” in the very wide median strip between the lanes of traffic.
“But I also acknowledge there’s considerable concern from the community … and I look forward to being able to update St Eddies and the broader community in due course.
“What happened on Friday was horrific, incredibly traumatising … and I do want to express my sincere sympathies to the families, to the St Eddies community, and to all of those people who were both on the scene and arrived at the scene – our first responders, and the remarkable tradies who pinned the alleged offender down.”
