Children brainstorm ideas for safer roads
ALL ideas were considered — pedestrian crossings, changing speed limits, speed bumps, tunnels, overbridges — even a ‘‘helicopter hat’’ that could fly children to school was floated.
But in the end, pupils at Balaclava School thought the helicopter hat might be a bit impractical when finding ways to get pupils to and from school.
Tenyearold Xavier Fuss said the engine would be too heavy for little heads, and the threat of obstacles like power lines and seagulls would also have to be considered.
He was one of about 30 pupils at the school who met Dunedin City Council travel plan coordinator Kerri Maclennan yesterday, to share ideas about how the roads around their school could be made safer for children walking to school.
She was delighted with the ideas and said depending on council budgets, some of them could come to fruition.
‘‘It’s awesome to get kids involved in this because they are a great way to promote to parents the benefits of walking to school.’’
Teacher Arani Abbott said several classes had spent the past term researching ways of improving road safety around the school so pupils did not have to worry about being hit by cars and their parents did not need to worry about them getting to school.
‘‘We’ve researched lots of different types of crossings, and the kids have made choices about where the crossings should be and where the slow zones should be,’’ Ms Abbott said.
She said slowing traffic around the school down to 30kmh was very popular among the pupils.
‘‘It’s been about changing the drivers mindset, not just changing the road.’’
Staff and pupils were pleased to hear Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is now investigating changing speed zones to 30kmh around all schools, nationwide.