Martina Galbraith pictured at the pedestrian crossing on the Queen Elizabeth Road, Enniskillen
ENNISKILLEN pedestrians are taking their lives into their own hands due to impatient and unruly motorists at a busy road crossing, it has been claimed.
That’s the message from one concerned resident who says she has had three near-misses at the notorious pedestrian crossing on the Queen Elizabeth Road in recent weeks.
Martina Galbraith says drivers are continually jumping the flashing lights at the junction outside the Clinton Centre and putting the lives of pedestrians like herself at risk.
“I’ve nearly been run over three times in recent weeks. On one occasion a car stopped so suddenly while I was crossing that it almost touched my leg. It seems like drivers don’t care about pedestrians. Very often my foot is already on the crossing but drivers just drive on through instead of stopping like they’re supposed to do. It’s plain for all to see that it’s a pedestrian crossing and that should be respected.”
Martina is now so fearful of being knocked down at the zebra crossing that she avoids it, choosing instead to cross over safely further down the Queen Elizabeth Road.
“People are taking their life in their hands going across it. It’s awful that it has got to the stage now that I avoid crossing there at all even though that means taking a detour but I feel that it’s safer in the long run. It’s an accident waiting to happen.
“I’m really scared that it will take someone being knocked down and injured there or worse before something is done. I see so many students and young mothers with children using the crossing as well as elderly people and I’m fearful for their safety,” Martina added.
Chief Inspector Clive Beatty said all road users should respect everyone’s journey, whether it be a pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist or the driver of a vehicle.
He told the Herald: “We all have a responsibility to ensure we are mindful of others on our roads. Naturally, we would appeal to drivers to be alert to pedestrians crossing and walking on our roads and to pedestrians to ensure they can be seen by wearing reflective or conspicuous clothing and always walking towards oncoming traffic, that is on the right hand side of the road.”
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