College principal speaks out after road crash leaves teen student critically injured
The principal of a special-needs college has expressed his shock after a student was left in a critical condition following a serious road accident.
The 17-year-old pedestrian was struck by a vehicle outside the entrance of Portland College on the A60 on Wednesday afternoon.
She was taken to Nottingham’s Queen Medical Centre where she remains in a critical condition.
“Everyone is really upset by what has happened,” said Dr Mark Dale, principal and CEO of the college which offers further education for people aged 16 to 25 with physical and learning disabilities.
“She is obviously well-known by staff and other learners so there have been a lot of people concerned about her so we’ve had a lot of additional support for those who have been affected by this.
“We are all very concerned about her condition, we need to give her family space but we have offered to support them if they need anything.”
Dr Dale said the teenager had been attending college before the accident happened at around 4pm.
The road was closed for hours as police investigators made inquiries, although no arrests have been made.
Detectives are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have been on the Stagecoach ‘Pronto’ bus which left Nottingham city centre at just after 3.20pm and was travelling through the area at the time of the collision.
Dr Dale said concerted efforts had been made to improve road safety outside of the college onto the busy A60 in recent years.
He said: “We are almost right opposite Fountaindale School so the road does get busy on during rush hour.
“When I first got here there was no pelican crossing and it was raised with Nottinghamshire County Council who found the money to put one in.
“There have been a number of safety measures put in place after hazards were recognised.”
Meanwhile, anyone who witnessed the collision or who has any information is asked to call Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 573 of September 28.