Motorists urged to watch out at schools

SCHOOL returns today for the final term of the year and police are reminding motorists to obey school zone speed limits and to take care around school buses.

Acting Inspector Ian Mathewson also said motorists should be prepared for heavier traffic in Hobart.

“Please leave yourself plenty of time to get to your destination and be patient with other drivers and pedestrians,” Acting Inspector Mathewson said.

“Traffic will become a lot heavier again and school speed zones will come back into effect.”

He said Tasmania Police would patrol school zones around the state throughout the first week of term.

“Sometimes after a break drivers can forget about the school speed zones or become impatient with traffic or buses on those roads,” he said.

Acting Inspector Mathewson said drivers should also be mindful of the unpredictability of young children.

“Young children should be supervised at all times whilst walking on footpaths and crossing roads,” he said.

“It’s also a good time to be mindful of a few basic road safety tips when travelling in and around schools ... be mindful of flashing lights on the school bus meaning that they have stopped and students are being loaded or unloaded.

“The law requires you to travel at 40km/h around these buses.”

Acting Inspector Mathewson said the main focus this week would be school zones “to ensure that motorists do do the right thing as do pedestrians”. “You will find uniform police conducting road safety operations, high visibility operations, around all school areas around the state,” he said.