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Residents in a Co Down village are calling for more action to be taken to improve road safety in the area after an incident where a child was hit by a car. On Thursday, October 2, a child from Downshire Primary School was crossing the Carnreagh Road in Hillsborough when they were hit by a car. As a result, the local community has come together to call for more preventative action to be taken to improve the safety of the village's roads. A petition has been launched in the wake of the incident, calling for a minimum expectation to protect children in the Hillsborough area. They are calling for improvements such as speed calming measures, 20 mile an hour speed limits near schools , and speed bumps and pedestrian crossings. Speaking to Belfast Live , Vanessa Ribiero, chairperson of Downshire Primary School's PTA, has a child at the school and said the lack of safe road crossing spots has made parents anxious allowing their kids to walk to school. She said: "I have a P7 who I'm starting to let walk home, and it makes you so anxious because there isn't actually a safe place for him to stop to cross the road. It's a responsibility of everybody in the village, we all need to take accountability of the fact we shouldn't speed, and should slow down. If there was more visibility that there was a school there, it may make drivers slow down. "There's a minimum expectation, which should be placed around all schools in Northern Ireland , especially the primary schools and even some of the secondary schools. Things like 20 mile an hour speed limits, speed calming measures, and awareness in the area that there's a school there. "People have lobbied for years saying this is needed in the village, I regret the fact action hasn't been put into place before this incident occurred. "The village is expanding with new houses being built, and there's no provision for road safety. An incident like this should have been completely avoidable, but it has not been avoided, because the powers that be haven't come into the area and looked at it enough." The petition has around 800 signatures so far, and is calling on the Department for Infrastructure to take a closer look at road safety measures in the area. Vanessa said further housing developments are being planned for the village, but added it does not seem infrastructure is being developed to keep up with the further influx of people. "There's no real provision for anybody to safely cross over the road. They resurfaced the Carnreagh Road, where the incident happened, but they haven't made sure the trees are well kept enough to increase the view for children to look down the road or anything. Our ultimate goal is to have speed bumps and pedestrian crossings put in," she said. "The land beside the school has just been sold, it was going to be another housing development, but there's been nothing to say they need to provide parking for the village as well as build the development. "It's in the field next to the school, which is just going to increase traffic on the Carnreagh Road, which is going to cause another issue for the school children. "Aspects of infrastructure in the village are not being looked at at all, that's how it feels from the community. It's a big school, there are around 600 children, and the majority of parents try to make the effort to walk the kids to school. "We're not trying to add to the traffic, but if the bare minimum's not being done by the Department for Infrastructure, that's what really needs to be looked at." The police are hosting a road safety awareness assembly at Downshire Primary School, but Vanessa is hoping further practical measures can be implemented in the area's infrastructure. She said: "People in Hillsborough have been doing petitions and writing to MLAs about this issue for years, it's not new to anybody. This incident has just highlighted the minimum measures are not in place. "This isn't the first incident in Hillsborough where something has happened to somebody, but it's the first incident with a child. I think it's now time for people to say this is definitely not good enough." Alliance MLA Michelle Guy has been speaking with the community on the issue. She said: "The community in Hillsborough have been highlighting the need for road safety measures for years. Being able to walk and cycle to school is a joy and children and families should not be fearful of what might happen. "I was shocked and concerned to hear that a child was hit by a car close to Downshire Primary School, I’m so relieved they are recovering. The fact is we could be talking about a much greater tragedy and that must compel DFI to act quickly to introduce necessary safety measures at this school, but also across all schools in Northern Ireland. "I have signed the parents petition and urge others who care about road safety at our schools to do the same. Encouraging active travel is a core objective of DFI, but if we are to encourage more children of school age to do this, parents need to have confidence that it’s safe for them to do so." Police have issued an appeal for information after a school child was knocked down. A PSNI spokesperon said: "Police are appealing for witnesses in relation to an RTC, whereby a school child was knocked down on 2nd October 2025 between 14:00 hours and 15:00 hours. "This occurred at the Carnreagh Road junction of Hillsborough, near number 40 Carnreagh Road. If you witnessed this, or have dash-cam footage of the incident, please phone 101 and quote police incident number CC2025100200958." You can find out more and sign the petition by clicking here. The Department for Infrastructure has been contacted for comment. For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
