Student Sarah is one of the reasons Wesburn lollipop lady Pam Woodhead sticks with a job which is very often just plain dangerous.By Kath Gannaway
A WESBURN lollipop lady narrowly escaped injury last week when she jumped out of the path of a speeding car.
Pam Woodhead has had some close shaves in the four years she has been a Shire of Yarra Ranges school crossing supervisor but an incident last Tuesday (5 August) was the most frightening experience she has had to endure.
And, she has some horror stories to tell.
Mrs Woodhead said on Tuesday she saw the car some 300 metres down the highway near the Wesburn Hotel.
Standing on the crossing with the ‘STOP’ sign raised and just about to blow her whistle to walk the a mother with a pram and toddler in tow across, she said she realised the car was accelerating.
“I think she was aiming for me,” she said of the woman driver who appeared to be looking directly at her as she sped at what she estimated was 90 to 100 kilometres per hour towards the crossing.
“She was flying as she came up the hill and as I moved to the side her car moved over too. Next thing she was right in front. I just jumped out of the way.”
The ordeal wasn’t over, however.
Looking after the car Mrs Woodhead said she saw the reversing lights come on.
“I was stunned. I didn’t know whether she was coming back to see if I was all right, or what she was going to do. Then she just took off.
In shock, neither Mrs Woodhead nor the other witness was able to get a registration number.
The incident has highlighted a growing problem across the shire.
Mrs Woodhead and other crossing supervisors told the Mail last week too many motorists show a blatant disregard for the law, their safety and the safety of the families who use the crossings along the Warburton Highway.
“Most people know they’re doing the wrong thing and just look straight ahead.
“Everyone’s in so much of a hurry but I wonder how they would feel if their children were put at risk by someone else speeding up or going around a crossing supervisor just because they are in a hurry,” she said.
“Standing at this crossing for just 45 minutes you could count anything in the vicinity of 100 cars who are not keeping to the speed limit,” she said.
Supervisors and school representatives from East Warburton, Woori Yallock and Wandin Yallock all supported Mrs Woodhead’s concerns about appalling driver behaviour which often included parents dropping off and collecting children from school.
Mrs Woodhead said supervisors are well-trained and responsible people who literally put their lives on the line every time they step out onto the road and who take their job and that responsibility very seriously.
“The shire doesn’t take this situation lightly and I can see that police don’t have large numbers of officers they can put on every crossing,” she said.
“It comes down to the public, to the drivers themselves.
“It’s a matter of do you want to be responsible for taking somebody’s life, possibly the life of a small child, and for what?
“I don’t think a minute and a half is worth the risk of someone’s life.”
