Parents in Peregian Beach are renewing calls for a safe crossing after a schoolgirl was allegedly hit by an e-bike.
Local mother Hannah Wilson said children crossing David Low Way from the Peregian Beach south bus stop face speeding traffic, vehicles exiting a nearby service station, and fast-moving e-bikes in the bike lane.
“I think something needs to be done before something bad happens,” she said.
“There’s about four different school buses that stop there in the afternoon and everyone has to cross the road to get home.”
Hannah said she witnessed the frightening incident on Wednesday afternoon.
“Yesterday there were about seven or eight kids and two parents crossing the road together. They were yelling to a girl on an e-bike to stop, but she had her AirPods in. She was just flying maybe 40 km/h and hit this girl, a 7-year-old, and pushed her into a parked car. She just kept riding.”
Hannah’s husband chased the rider down and confronted her.
“He said, ‘What are you doing? You’ve just hit a little girl — you can’t just ride off.’ And her response allegedly was, ‘She was in the bike lane.’”
Local dad Brad Collins also heard the collision.
“I heard the e-bike lock up and the girl fell and was grazed all down her side. She sounded distraught. It was lucky there was nothing more than that,” he said.
Brad said the road needs a zebra crossing and clearer signage.
“People come flying out of that service station and they’re looking right when they’re going to go left. And then they fly out of there and if there’s someone crossing the road, it would be last minute that they’d see them,” he said.
“Even this morning I watched some car just roll out and another car swerved.
“My van has been hit twice on the side of the road and my trailer has been written off.”
Hannah said she had previously written to Noosa Council about the issue.
Council officers conducted a review of speed and traffic flow in the area, recording vehicle speeds between 52 and 65 km/h.
“Based on this data, a zebra crossing would not be appropriate as it is typically used on roads with a maximum speed limit of 50 km/h or lower,” a spokesperson said.
Noosa Council Director of Infrastructure Shaun Walsh said Council is aware of the recent concerns raised regarding pedestrian safety along David Low Way, near the southbound bus stop.
“Our Transport and Traffic team has undertaken a preliminary assessment of the location, which currently includes a pedestrian refuge island that provides an appropriate level of safety for the surrounding road environment,” he said.
“Council thanks residents for their feedback and concern for community safety. We will continue to monitor traffic conditions and pedestrian movements in the area to help inform future road network planning and improvements.”
