Lethal wing mirrors

A headteacher today called on transport officials to improve safety on a road where a 15-year-old schoolboy was critically injured after being hit by a lorry’s wing mirror. 

Christopher Pritchard suffered severe head injuries in the hit-and-run collision just yards from Chiswick School, where he and a friend had been playing football. The school’s headteacher Tony Ryan has now called for a review of safety on the four-carriageway A316, where Christopher was waiting for a bus when he was knocked down. 

He said: “It is obviously of great concern to us that it appears our students are not safe waiting for the bus. Christopher, who was set to take his GCSEs next summer, was waiting for a bus with a friend and standing on the kerb looking out for oncoming traffic when the 7.5 tonne DAF LF lorry hit him. 

A statement by the school said: “A white box van approached fast, only centimetres from the kerb. The wing mirror hit Chris in the head. The accident happened at around 4.10pm on Tuesday on the A316 northbound, 100 metres south of the junction with Staveley Road. The lorry failed to stop and drove towards the A4.