Mother of Wakefield boy killed by speeding driver backs school 20mph calls

Owen Wightman was playing with a friend when he was struck by a car in Wakefield

The mother of a six-year-old boy who was killed by a speeding driver is backing calls for 20mph zones to be implemented around all UK schools.

Owen Wightman died in 2011 when he was hit by a car travelling at 57mph in a 30mph area while playing near his home.

"If that car would have hit him at 20, he'd still be here," his mother said.

West Yorkshire-based road safety charity Brake wants the rest of the UK to follow Wales in making 20mph the default limit in all built-up areas.

"His life was only just beginning," Owen's mother Joanne Wightman, from Wakefield, told BBC Breakfast.

"Owen had gone to cross the road, he'd only put his leg out and they hit his leg."

Speed limits in built-up areas will be reduced from 30mph to 20mph in Wales from September

Many councils have already introduced 20mph zones around schools, but the charity wants a blanket approach across all schools.

"I wouldn't want any other family to go through what we went through, and what we're still going through 12 years on," Ms Wightman added.

Ministers in Wales intend to reduce the default speed limit in urban areas from 30mph to 20mph from September, the the plan has attracted some opposition.

Joanne Wightman says her son had "gorgeous blue eyes" and "walked into a room and lit it up"

"We speak to lots of schools where teachers are doing everything they can to make the roads near their school safe, but ultimately they need support from their local council and decision-makers," Brake campaigns manager Lucy Straker said.

"Why do we have to wait until a child is killed before we act?"

More than 700 schools and nurseries are taking part in a walk organised by Brake on Wednesday as part of the campaign, including Wickersley Northfield Primary School.

Beth Proctor, a teacher at the school in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said she would like the speed limit outside Wickersley Northfield reduced from 30mph to 20mph.

"It's not going to change your travel time dramatically and it will keep our children safe," she said.

"We've got a nursery across the road, we've got parents who are dropping off, so it can get very busy with children crossing roads."

Beth Proctor, a primary teacher in Rotherham, is backing calls for lower limits around schools

In Harrogate, North Yorkshire, campaigners have been running petitions for 20mph zones around a cluster of schools "to reduce road collisions, improve safety, reduce air pollution and create a better environment for walking, wheeling, cycling and scooting".

In February, two teenagers who were walking to school were left with multiple broken bones and requiring skin grafts after three cars crashed on Yew Tree Lane.

Stephanie Talbot, mother of one of the boys injured in the crash, said: "This accident should be a wake-up call to all parents, grandparents and the community to know that we need to make a change in our beautiful but busy town to enable our children to feel safe.

"I cannot even explain the pain and trauma that we have all gone through and will live with for the rest of our lives."