The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

AN Abaco mother hopes her son’s tragic death will bring urgent attention to the “dangerous” conditions at the S C Bootle Highway in the Fox Town settlement of Abaco.

Edith Clarke - whose 16-year-old son Zion Pratt was killed on Sunday night while walking - says the road is “dangerous” and something must be done to make it safer for both pedestrians and motorists in that small community.

She complained there are no streetlights on the road, which is very dark at night. Another issue, she said is the lack of speed bumps in the school zone area where her son was struck and killed by a motorist.

Ms Clarke does not want her son’s death to be vain and is speaking out so that no other mother loses their child that way.

Zion was walking home around 10pm after playing basketball with friends when he was struck by a silver Honda Accord. His body was thrown some eight feet from impact in bushes. He died on the scene.

Officers and bystanders were searching in the area for a while looking for Zion. Ms Clarke claims that the lack of lighting in the area made it difficult to find her son in the dark.

“We were in the dark calling out to my son, and he was right there in front of me but I could not see him,” she said.

She believed that if lights and speed dumps were in the area, her son might still be alive today.

Ms Clarke said the road has been an ongoing issue and noted that there is no protective barrier along the road at the seaside.

“If your brakes fail you, you either going to end up in bushes on one side or into the sea on the other side,” she said.

Ms Clarke also claimed that access to the emergency numbers 911 and 919 is not available to residents on Abaco.

She complained that Abaco is being neglected. “Island people life matters,” she stressed.

Michelle McIntosh, the chairperson of the Little Abaco Township, said that all settlements have signs letting motorists know when they are entering a settlement.

She noted that while the S C Bootle Highway has working streetlights in some areas, that portion of the road where the accident occurred has none.

“That area normally does not have a light where the accident would have taken place, and the highway is dark in that area when entering that settlement,” she said.

Ms McIntosh also noted that some of the streetlights damaged during Hurricane Dorian have not been restored yet by BPL due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for speed bumps, she explained that despite public agitation, it is a highway. “Because it is a highway, we cannot put speed bumps on that road. Speed bumps do not go on highways. But there is a pedestrian crossing at the school and police and security are there to advise motorists to slow down,” said.

The local government councillor indicated that roadside barriers are something that the Ministry of Works would have to address.

“We live (near) the water and persons would know that area, but that would be something the Ministry of Works would have to deal with, and I can talk to them about that,” she said.

When asked about access to emergency numbers 911 and 919, Ms McIntosh noted that getting through on those numbers has been difficult, but said there are on-call numbers for emergencies that are available to residents.

“We have on-call numbers to the nurse for all settlements and each number is posted on the clinic doors, and so there is access to on-call numbers if you have an emergency,” she said.