A DRIVER is calling for more road safety around Lochgelly High School after a student dashed across the road right in front of their car.

Jamie Lee Rafferty wrote to the Times in concern, on Friday, after experiencing a near-miss with the student, who had ran into the middle of the road out of nowhere.

“I was driving by Lochgelly High School at lunchtime,” Jamie Lee explained.

“I was going roughly 18 mph. Out of nowhere a student of the school ran into the middle of the road in front of my car. If I hadn’t hit my brakes and swerved slightly to the other side of the road, I would most likely have hit this child.” Jamie Lee believes that the young boy was running across the road to reach the burger van, which parks up next to Cartmore Industrial Estate. However, despite there being a pelican crossing further down the road, some students don’t appear to be using it and Jamie Lee thinks that the kids need to be made more aware of the road dangers.

“These are young adults who should be aware of road safety but apparently some are not and as a driver, we are the people who would have to live with the consequences of hitting, or worse, killing a child.

“It is only a matter of time before this happens.” Carol Ann Penrose-Campbell, rector at Lochgelly High School, said, “I am of course very concerned to hear that one of our young people was nearly involved in a serious accident and understand the driver is upset.

“As a school, we would prefer that our pupils chose to eat from the range of options on offer in the school canteen, but we have to accept that many young people prefer to eat elsewhere”.

The rector added, “Our S1 were strongly encouraged to eat in school at the beginning of term and I was very pleased with the support from parents to reinforce this message. Concerns over the location of the burger van at the other side of a very busy road have been raised at our Parent Council meetings and by local employers; however, unfortunately, the school is limited in its ability to have an impact in this regard.

“Underlining the importance of road safety is an integral part of the school’s social education programme and recently young people in senior school attended a very hard-hitting presentation and workshop at the Rothes Halls on road safety entitled Safe Drive Stay Alive.”