My boy was only inches from death after mooring ring smashed our car

A FATHER and his four-year-old son are lucky to be alive after a freak ferry accident in which a loose mooring ring crashed through their car.

Bob Carter and son Zac were on the isle of Luing ferry Bellnahua in Argyll when the metal ring broke free from a concrete slipway and smashed through the window of the family car, missing the boy by inches.

It broke the back passenger window, hit the front passenger headrest - with Zac strapped in his child seat below - before hurtling across the driver's seat and shattering the driver's window.

A shocked Mr Carter, 47, of Toberonochy, Luing, who works as a farm stockman, believes he and his son could have been seriously injured or even killed.

He said: "It all happened so fast, there was smashed glass and my son was sat in the front, covered in glass. The ring, which was about nine inches across and weighed about 7-8lb, couldn't have missed my son's head by more than a few inches - I dread to think how close it was."

Mr Carter had just got out of the vehicle when the accident happened.

He said: "I got out to talk to a friend who was on the boat and I left my son strapped in his seat, in the front.

"All of a sudden there was a jolt and a bang. My friend grabbed hold of me and pulled me out of the way and the next thing I knew the ring was on the deck.

"If I had been in that car I would definitely have been hit. If it had been a different day, if it had been wet, or if the ferry was busy, I would have been sat in the car."

Mr Carter and his son were returning home from a shopping trip to Oban when the accident happened on Saturday soon after the 11.30am Luing ferry had pulled away from the slipway on the neighbouring isle of Seil.

The mooring ring, fitted earlier this year on Seil, was ripped clean out of the concrete slipway as the ferry moved away with its mooring rope still attached.

Zac was shaken but uninjured in the accident, which caused 2,000 damage to the family's Mitsubishi Warrior pick-up.

Mr Carter said: "Zac was just sat there and when he saw the shattered glass he said 'mum won't be happy about this'."

Zac's mother, Shelley, said it was "a miracle" that neither her husband or son had been injured. She added: "Zac is only four, if my son had been any taller it would have been a different story."

A spokeswoman for Argyll and Bute Council said: "The incident involved a mooring ring which broke free from its seating and damaged a vehicle on the ferry, fortunately there were no injuries.We have been in contact with the owner of the vehicle and advised our insurance section and are completing forms for the council's internal health and safety personnel in addition to those for the Marine Accident Investigation Board.

"We have instructed testing of the other rings which were installed earlier this year and are considering changes to the berthing arrangements."