'My world was turned upside down' - Interview with East Sussex mum who is fighting for road safety changes after her daughter was struck by a car

Toki Snook’s, 35, ‘world was turned upside down’ after her 10-year-old daughter, Imogen and her classmate were involved in the accident on Amberstone Road in Hailsham in March. The girls, who were on their way home from school, were hospitalised, one with a broken arm and the other after she was knocked unconscious.

Toki said: “It was absolutely devastating to have to hear my daughter screaming. It’s every parents worst nightmare.”

Toki is fighting for road safety to be improved on the A271 Amberstone, near the junctions Linnet Lane and Trefoil Road. Last week (Wednesday, September 16) she organised a protest at the site to ‘shed some light on how busy the road actually is, the amount of vehicles and speed’ in hopes that East Sussex County Council Highway would come and assess it.

Protestors gathered at the roadside in support of greater safety measures such as a zebra crossing.

The mum said: “Honestly, it felt amazing seeing all the people coming out to support us. It brought a tear to my eye all the support, not just for me, but for my daughter and her friend that was involved in the crash.

"It was very nice.”

For Toki’s daughter she has physically recovered but still lives with the trauma from the accident. The mum said: “It’s heartbreaking every time we get on the road because she’s scared.

"She doesn’t like car parks even with cars that don’t move. I’ve had to do a lot of work to try and get her to cross roads.”

Toki had previously set up a petition for her cause with over 1,000 signatures and sent it to Wealden District Council but the council benchmarked the score as not high enough for there to be a crossing.

A East Sussex County Council spokesperson said: “Road safety improvements, including pedestrian crossings and traffic calming measures, are assessed against our local transport plan to ensure the limited budget we have is focused on the highest priority schemes.

“The Amberstone crossing did not score highly enough to secure funding from the county council’s capital budget.

“Officers are now working on options for alternative external funding for a crossing point, including Community Infrastructure Levy money from developments in Wealden. Those discussions are ongoing.”

Since the protest Toki and the other parents have attended a Hailsham Town Council Meeting and the council has agreed to fund a speed and vehicle survey.

Toki added: “We are now waiting on that, hopefully it will be in a few months. We would rather they collect evidence during school hours so everybody can see how dangerous it is.

"The next step is to take the data to East Sussex County Council Highways and Wealden District Council to show them we need a different kind of crossing.”