Watching a car nearly run over her son has prompted a mother to call for a crossing guard or Police officer at the junction of Dundonald Street and Cedar Avenue.

Ms Janine Gibbons told The Royal Gazette she watched in horror as a driver tried to run a red light and stopped short of running over her eight-year-old son who had tripped near the side walk after getting off a bus in that section.

"His feet and legs were up in the air and his head was in the road,'' Ms Gibbons said. "It was only the other children's screams that alerted her (the driver) to stop.'' The distraught mother said it was not the first near miss for her son or other children.

She said students from West Pembroke School usually come off the bus between 3.45 and 4 p.m. and run across the street instead of using the pedestrian crossing.

Ms Gibbons said she has stressed to her son the importance of crossing the street correctly. And, she added, West Pembroke's principal Mrs. Davina Blakeney has talked to the children.

But Ms Gibbons said: "It would be a lot of help if someone was there. It is not all time that I can leave work and stand down there.'' She said she has seen children dart across the street and come into contact with the bumper of a car.

Luckily, she said, no one was seriously injured.

"It needs to be monitored even if it is by the Police,'' she stressed.

"That's the second time that has happened to my son.'' Mrs. Blakeney was not available for comment. But her secretary said she was looking into the matter and planned to contact the bus terminal.

Public Transportation Board director Mr. Herman Basden said he had not received any reports about the incident. But would welcome hearing from Ms Gibbons.

However, he said, when PTB have been contacted in the past about a problem with children on the buses, they have sent supervisors to observe the situation.

The problem cited by Ms Gibbons, he added, was out of the PTB's control.

But Mr. Basden noted that he was at the Dundonald Street/Cedar Avenue junction on Tuesday and saw a child about six years old wait for the light to change and cross the street correctly.

"She handled it quite superbly,'' Mr. Basden said, adding that it was up to parents to educate their children about crossing the street.

He also said while a department of PTB's size could not manage such a problem as children running into the street, bus drivers often told the children to be careful when they left the bus.

The Education Department's labour and transport officer Mr. Delano Bulford also said the Ministry could not take responsibility for incidents that occurred away from school property.

"The Ministry can't be seen to put crossing guards wherever children get off the bus,'' Mr. Bulford said, adding that there were crossing guards at the schools.

He suggested that Ms Gibbons and other concerned parents talk to the Police about placing someone at the junction to ensure that people obey the traffic lights.

But Police spokeswoman Insp. Roseanda Jones said safety measures were already in place at the junction.

"Parents need to encourage their children to use the proper safety procedures when crossing the street,'' Insp. Jones stressed.

And she added that motorists should also obey the traffic lights.

"We're very much concerned about people running the amber light,'' she said.

"It's better to wait and be safe.''