Girl (14) still critical after road incident

The teenager was knocked from her bike by a car at 5.30pm on Saturday (August 8) at Aghnatrisk Road in Culcavy.

Suffering leg and head injuries, the girl was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, who confirmed at time of going to press she was still in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, police at Lisburn are appealing for information.

“We would like to hear from anyone who saw the incident involving the cycle and the Audi car, or saw them on the road beforehand,” said Inspector Jim McGrillen.

“The incident occurred about a mile from the Culcavy Road/Harry’s Road junction.

“Please call Lisburn station on the 101 non-emergency number and quote the reference 990 of 8 August.”

The precise circumstances contributing to the incident are currently unknown but there have been fresh calls for traffic calming measures on the road in question.

Having previously called for calming measures, she said, Lagan Valley MLA Brenda Hale was among those to urge the authorities to be proactive, rather than reactive, when it came to road safety improvement.

Local MP Jeffrey Donaldson, meanwhile, said he would be talking to police about the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“Obviously,” he said, “we don’t know the exact circumstances of this terrible accident and I’m sure the police are actively investigating.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the young girl who was knocked down and also with the driver of the vehicle.

“This type of incident is traumatic for everyone involved and we all hope the young girl makes a good recovery from her injuries.

“I will be talking to police about the circumstances of this incident to see if there are further measures that could be introduced to improve road safety.”