Boy, 4, who was killed by car ran into road as mother pressed pelican crossing button, inquest hears
A four-year-old boy was hit and killed by a car after running into the road at a pelican crossing because he was excited to get home for KFC, an inquest has heard.
Agarwin Sasikaran was standing with his six-year-old brother when his mother released his hand to press the button at the crossing, prompting him to rush into the road in front of a car doing 40mph.
The collision occurred at around 7pm on 11 October 2020, on Uxbridge Road, in Hayes, west London.
The youngster was left with “catastrophic injuries” around his head and torso and never regained consciousness.
The driver, Stacy Woolmore, was within the speed limit when the incident took place, and reacted within one second of Agarwin darting into the road by immediately swerving left in a bid to avoid the crash, the inquest heard.
Police officers investigating the horrific crash said it was “unavoidable” and found the driver had “made no mistake”.
Agarwin was treated by the roadside by a passing off-duty GP, who vaulted the barriers to help, while the driver of the car called emergency services.
The boy was then taken to St Mary’s Hospital, but he died of his injuries in the early hours of the following morning.
West London Coroner’s Court was told that Agarwin’s death happened due to the “unpredictability of children”.
Agarwin’s mother, Aklaya Sasikaran, gave a statement to police saying after making the children lunch at home, her son wanted popcorn chicken from KFC for dinner.
In summary of her statement, assistant coroner Ivor Collett said: “She told the children that they would take the food home rather than eat it at the KFC.
“They walked up to the crossing on Uxbridge Road. There was a green man for them until they got to the central reservation.
“Once they were on that island, she pressed the button to allow them to cross the second half of the road.
“She let go of Agarwin’s hand, still holding the Tesco bag, to press the button. He then ran out into the lane.”
In her desperation to retrieve her young son from the road, Aklaya broke her finger as she tried to grab him, the coroner said.
Meanwhile, Ms Woolmore said she was driving between 38 to 40 mph with her partner next to her when she reached the area of the pedestrian crossing and the lights were green.
Mr Collett, summarising her statement, said: “As she reached the crossing, the boy ran out in front of the car.
“She immediately swerved to the left to avoid a collision with the boy. She said he must have been one metre ahead of the mother.
“The mother tried to grab him but it was too late and the car struck the boy. Ms Woolmore then contacted emergency services.”
