Speed camera on Kensington Rd a jarring reminder for school commuters and ready to catch speeders out

As schools return and roads are back at capacity, poignant memories have come flooding back for one Marryatville High parent.

The Kensington Road crossing opposite Marryatville High School where two teens were hit by a truck has undergone progressive safety upgrades since last March. Picture: Zayda Dollie

Back-to-school time brings haunting memories for Tusmore father of five Joshua Weber.

They are not only of the incident in which a truck hit two Marryatville High teens last year at a Kensington Rd pedestrian crossing, but also of a car knocking his own son off his bike just down the road the year before.

Mr Weber has three children enrolled at Marryatville Primary, which is just 500m from the crossing where two 16-year-old students were struck by a truck that allegedly ran a red light at 8am on Wednesday, March 22, last year.

Declan with his bike in Tusmore. Picture: Ben Clark

Sang Van Huynh, 60, of Ottoway, was charged with two counts of causing serious harm by dangerous driving. He has yet to enter a plea.

Isaac Jones was left in critical condition while Amity Nield, a netballer and SRC member, suffered a broken collarbone and jaw.

Isaac needed extensive time in hospital before rehab including speech, occupational and physiotherapy, returning to school part-time more than two months later.

Mr Weber had all five of his kids in the car that morning and remembers the traffic being “terrible”.

“There were police redirecting traffic and when I asked what was going on, they said a kid had been hit. All I could think about was their parents,” he said.

He said the crossing was “maybe 200-300m from where (my son) Declan (aged 11) got hit riding his bike to school” the year before.

“He was doing what I had taught him by staying on the footpath, stopping at every intersection, making sure to look both ways,” he said.

“The car was coming out of a shared driveway, but there was a tall fence and hedge limiting the vision of the driver and Declan from seeing each other.

“It was just unfortunate timing by both Declan and the driver – it wasn’t either of their fault.”

Declan thankfully suffered only minor injuries and bruising. But Mr Weber said heights of fences and hedges needed to be limited.

One in seven South Australians recently surveyed admitted to speeding through school zones when there were no children in sight, according to the Australian Road Safety Foundation and AAMI.

Many also said they had sped through the zones because they were on “autopilot” or running late.

A sign at the Kensington Rd crossing. Picture: Zayda Dollie

Upgrades included wrapping traffic signal poles and backing boards to increase visibility of traffic lights. Picture: Zayda Dollie

Two days after the truck crash, flowers were left at the scene. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

The Kensington Rd crossing was criticised after the incident last March, when photos revealed the red traffic light was partially obscured by the sun and overgrown tree branches.

The crossing has since had upgrades including speed and fixed red light cameras, wrapping of traffic signal poles, improved pedestrian ramps and better backing boards that boost visibility of traffic lights.

Originally published as Speed camera on Kensington Rd a jarring reminder for school commuters and ready to catch speeders out