Two children were involved in a collision on a 'dangerous' four-way junction where East Molesey families have been appealing for a raised crossing.

Rekha Varma and her husband were driving their two daughters home from a Parent Teachers' Assosciation event at St Lawrence Junior school, just after 5:30pm last Friday.

Rekha said the other driver "came out of nowhere" and collided into the car with her ten-year-old and five-year-old in the back.

A driver went over 'Give Way' lines on the corner of Vine Road and Kent Road, and crashed into the side of their Audi, damaging the side and the rear passenger doors.

No one was hurt.

"Given how close a call that was," Rekha said. "If my husband hadn't swerved out the way, it would have been a much worse accident. Luckily we're all safe and the kids have gotten over the trauma of it."​

The collision comes as local parents wait for Surrey County Council (SCC) to decide if St Lawrence's can have a raised crossing on Church Road near to the Vine Road junction.

The measure would slow cars down and enhance safe routes for pedestrians towards the school.

Jim Davidson, a parent and now school governor, has previously described the junction as 'an obvious hazard' (Photo: Chris Caulfield)

Church Road and Vine Street consists of a four-way junction, without traffic lights, which up to 300 children and parents normally cross every day on the school run.

"Loads of people have been objecting to the crossing" Rekha said. "No matter how safe you think it is, anything that slows down the speed of the cars, especially with the reduced visibility, means it allows safe crossing for the kids."

Rekha explained residents and some parents have been objecting to the crossing and road safety measures, saying it will damage their property or is a way of 'controlling people'.

Although a car accident, rather than a pedestrian incident, Rekha said they are both linked: "Road safety measures would help slow down and force bad drivers to be more careful and would mitigate accidents when they do happen.

"Everybody should just be mindful that we're a community, [that means] driving slowly and looking out for each other."

Jim Davidson, parent and now school governor, has been petitioning for safer roads and crossings around the school for over three years.

He claimed the incident emphasises the danger of the junction.

Jim said: "I have seen countless near misses like this. This is another piece of evidence why a Zebra Crossing and the redesign of the four-way junction are so badly needed.

"Fortunately nobody was seriously injured this time, if the proposals are not implemented next time we may not be so lucky and someone maybe badly injured or worse"

Residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of a zebra crossing in a public consultation by SCC in June 2023. Nearly 75% of 977 respondents agreed to implement a zebra crossing.

Continuing with the most popular options, SCC has already implemented a 20mph speed limit (77% agreed) and is set to install a Zebra Crossing (74% agreed). The full results are available here.

SCC spokesperson: "We are sorry to hear about the recent incident near St Lawrence Junior School and agree that road safety in the surrounding area is a priority, which is why we recently carried out a consultation to make the roads here safer following a petition from the local community.

"The 20mph speed limit is already in place, and we have detailed designs for the crossing. However, we are required by law to complete a formal one month consultation on the detailed zebra crossing proposals to allow objections and comments from the public, and this recently closed on 23 February.

"The results of this consultation are currently being compiled and will be considered by Officers and the local County Councillor to take a decision on whether to proceed. If the proposals go ahead, we will look to install the crossing in the near future as a priority."