Road safety urged as school starts back
With school starting back for the year and the areas around schools becoming congested, the cooperation of parents, students and motorists is being urged.
The congestion is believed to have got worse over the years due to the lack of children taking the ‘active route’ to get to school, instead, catching rides with their families - that is why Roadsafe Taranaki has come up with a strategy that involves local helpers in an attempt to decongest roads of cars and get children on the footpaths.
Marion Webby, the Road Safety Co-ordinator for Roadsafe Taranaki, alongside South Taranaki Police and Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD), will work together visiting different schools and monitoring the safety of the congestion, while offering advice.
They will be patrolling some of the busiest locations to talk to parents about the risks in the area, safe parking and helping parents make their children’s travel to and from school as safe as possible.
‘‘If people are parking correctly and doing things safely we’ll say ‘thanks very much’ and hand them a pamphlet from New Zealand Transport Agency which is called ‘hike it bike it’,’’ Webby said.
‘‘It’s sort of giving parents some ideas on how to get their kids to school safely if they’re biking, scootering or walking.’’
Over the past 25 years the percentage of children nationally who actively travel to school (walking, cycling or scootering) has dropped from 42% to 29% and as a result congestion around schools, and the dangers it creates, is a national growing concern.
Police Sergeant George White asked that other motorists do their bit to help by driving to the conditions around schools.
‘‘Children can be unpredictable so slow down, be patient at crossings and expect the unexpected,’’ he said.
White also wanted to remind drivers to take care in rural zones where children may be floating on the side of roads waiting for the bus.
‘‘Whichever direction you are travelling, if a bus has stopped to pick up or drop off students, you must pass the bus at the legal speed limit.’’
Webby said parents could help by parking further away from the school gates and walking their child a few hundred metres - this was a great opportunity to teach them basic road skills.