Road safety lobbyer and Cycling Tasmania chief executive Collin Burns has hit out at the West Tamar Council after his 87-year-old mother was struck by a car while crossing the road in Legana on Saturday.
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Aileen Burns is a resident of the Legana Presbyterian Nursing Home, and broke her leg after she was knocked out of her electric wheelchair by a car near the shopping centre.
“There is a median strip in the middle of the road, she waited and when there were no cars she proceeded across and a lady had just come around the corner from KFC around the roundbaout. She obviously gave way to the right and just didn’t look to the left,” said Mr Burns.
“I’m not sure whether [my mother] will ever walk again it could really impact on her independence because she would go over to the shopping centre about three times a week.”
Mr Burns said a petition was delivered to council a few years ago asking for help to make the road safer, given Legana’s rapid population growth.
“You’ve got 108 residents in that nursing home, and their family and friends… there’s always someone going across the road and it’s like playing the old game of Frogger, it’s just a recipe for disaster.”
General manager of the West Tamar Council Ian Pearce said the council was made aware of the incident immediately on Monday morning.
“The mayor has sent me a copy [of the incident’s details], and we are going to discuss it on Tuesday at our workshop with council,” Mr Pearce said.