Rustington pensioner scared to leave home after nearly being run down by car - and calls for improved road safety measures

Pamela Norrington, 87, said she struggles to cross Station Road because she is almost fully blind and partially deaf.

She, along with her 90-year-old husband, have to wear luminous jackets to cross the road [between Oakhurst Gardens and Park Drive].

Despite this, Pamela, who has a hearing aid and two metal hips, was nearly knocked down by a car, traveling at over the 30mph speed limit, earlier this month.

"I’ve got a stick, can’t see and I’ve also got a blind dog with one eyeball,” Pamela said.

“I was nearly run over. I was in the centre of the road. It terrified me so much. The driver shouted out at me ‘next time you won’t be so lucky’.

"I’ve got no way to cross the road. They don’t see us try to come out the lay-by. People park in it which makes it even worse.”

Pamela is calling on West Sussex Highways to paint markings on the road, to warn motorists that elderly people use the road to cross.

"I’d like to have 20mph calming sign but they’d take no notice,” she said. “They use it as a rat run because the main road is busy. I’m just so fed up of it.

“There’s no pavement on my side of the road. I realise it’s too expensive to put a refuge in the middle for me but I just want a line painted so people realise that’s where I’ve got to walk.

"I’m shaking before I go out. I’m frightened about it. I’m going to get run over before long.”

Alison Cooper, county councillor for Rustington and vice-chairman of the parish council, said she will meeting with the county highways department ‘to see if there is anything we can do to address the issues’.

She said: “I drove past and there is an elderly crossing sign which I’m told people can't see properly because of the tree.

"I've had that cut back but it's still not very visible and it possibly needs moving. That whole stretch of road could have elderly people crossing.”

Mrs Cooper said there is a speeding issue on the road as ‘people are in such a rush to get everywhere’.

She added: "We hold a surgery every three months with the police as well as county, district and parish councils. Eighty per cent of queries were about speeding.

“That's part of the problem. People are not thinking very clearly when they're driving. The highway code is more focused on people crossing and cyclists. People need to adhere to it.”

Pamela’s concerns come amid fears for the safety of schoolchildren and elderly nursing home residents on Station Road.

Peter Cavell, chairman of Rustington Residents Association – with the support of Sir Peter Bottomley MP – has been calling on West Sussex Highways to authorise a pedestrian crossing outside Rustington Hall.

However, Mr Cavell said he was informed that there was 'insufficient footfall' and the central reservation and speed camera was enough, with no need for a pedestrian crossing.

West Sussex County Council said it would be ‘willing to work’ with the Rustington Residents Association and the parish council to ‘review alternative options and see if there is a resolution that will work for all involved’.

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