Mum of boy, 8, who had leg broken in Denny crash urges drivers to slow down

Ashleigh Duff’s son, Calvin, had to be rushed to hospital with a compound fracture after he was involved in a collision with a van in the town’s Dryburgh Avenue on Monday night.

Ashleigh, 29, wants more road users to be mindful of their speed when driving in the residential street which, she says, is often used as a shortcut to the town centre.

The Denny woman insists the number of parked vehicles which line either side of the road represent hazards for motorists and pedestrians alike.

However, Ashleigh believes the onus is on drivers to reduce their speed – and is thankful the man behind the wheel of the van which collided with her boy knew the area, and hadn’t been speeding at the time of the incident.

She said: “I grew up in that street and gradually it’s got worse for parked cars. They’re almost up either side.

“Calvin is lucky it was someone who knew the street and was going slowly enough.

“If it had been someone else, it could’ve been disastrous. Drivers and kids don’t stand a chance because of the parked cars.”

She added: “Calvin’s fine. He’s back to his usual mischievous self. He’s got some stitches above his eye but he’s in good spirits.

“He’s got his Nintendo Switch with him. One of the trauma team said they didn’t want him to play it in case there was a concussion because it can make your brain work hard.

“I’m not saying he can’t remember, but it’s still raw. He was reassured nobody had done anything wrong.”

With her son, who attends St Patrick’s Primary School, now on the mend, Ashleigh feels the best way to prevent a similar accident is to preach slow and safe driving in the street.

She continued: “A lot of people are mentioning speed bumps but it’s not going to help if kids are jumping out between parked cars.

“What do you do in a street where there are nose-to-nose parked cars? Of course I’d like to see fewer parked cars but then where are they going to put them? There would have to be something done.

“People use the street as a shortcut to avoid the town. Those people are very dangerous because they don’t know the street.

“The large majority of people do go slowly through the street. There’s a small minority who use it as a shortcut to avoid the lights at the cross and leather it down.

“People are making the driver out as a bad person but it was an accident that could’ve happened to anybody. The driver was absolutely distraught and couldn’t apologise enough.

“I’d like to thank the residents in Dryburgh Avenue who helped and came out to calm Calvin down. There were many, many residents who couldn’t have helped enough.”

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Officers were called to Dryburgh Avenue, Denny, around 6.10pm on Monday, July 12 following a crash involving a van and an eight-year-old pedestrian.”

Police confirmed no further action has been taken.

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