‘Lucky no-one has been flattened’
A pair of school pupil traffic patrollers have gone straight to the top to get an ‘‘incredibly dangerous’’ bus stop moved away from their crossing.
Boulcott School pupils Harry Martin, 10, and Alex Jamieson, 11, penned a letter to Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry and the city’s councillors asking them to relocate a bus stop outside their school.
To access the stop on Ariki St the school bus needs to swing across both lanes of Boulcott St and reverse into it.
‘‘We are really lucky no-one has been flattened by the bus yet. The driver has hit and destroyed two road patrol crossing signs that help people cross the road safely in the last 12 months,’’ the boys told the mayor and councillors.
The boys cited the New Zealand Transport Agency’s public transport infrastructure guidelines that say reversing at school bus stops is not ideal.
Principal Stu Davenport said he was proud the boys had taken the initiative to act on their concerns for their fellow pupils.
In order to access the stop, a bus had to perform a three-point turn before reversing into Ariki St.
Davenport agreed the manoeuvre was dangerous during school pick-up times, when there was more traffic on the road and people on the footpath.
‘‘It is a little bit hair-raising.’’ He said possible solutions might be for students to catch a bus from a different stop or for a smaller bus to be used.
Barry thanked the students for raising the issue with him, and said the council would look into the matter.
‘‘Ultimately this is a question of safety, and if the situation is as the students and school describes, then something must change.
‘‘I have asked council staff to provide urgent advice on the location of the bus stop, and will respond to the students with information when I receive it.’’