Bollards call to improve road safety at schools
THERE have been calls for Bristol City Council to ban cars from the front of schools during peak times after seeing examples in other cities.
Councillor Eleanor Combley, leader of the Green Group at the authority, has shared witjh colleagues a video of bollards which have been installed outside a school in Southampton.
The retractable “coffin” bollards are in place to stop parents - and commuters - from being able to travel down the road in front of the building during drop-off and pick-up times.
Southampton City Council has partnered with St John’s Primary and Nursery School in the city for the project in a bid to improve air quality and cut traffic.
And now Cllr Combley is asking for Bristol City Council to look at the possibility of introducing something similar outside schools across the city.
Speaking to the Bristol Post she said there was definitely an appetite from residents in her ward - Bishopston and Ashley Down - to have something in Bristol which prevents people from driving to pick-up and drop-off their kids at school
“There is evidence from schools around the country that have introduced no driving zones outside schools that people do change their behaviour and the way they travel,” she added.
“It’s not just about reducing the amount of cars on our roads but also because it has been proven that children get most of their poor air quality exposure on the school run.”
As well as the example in Southampton there are a couple of London
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There is evidence from schools around the country that have introduced no driving zones outside schools that people do change their behaviour and the way they travel.
Councillor Eleanor Combley
boroughs which are also piloting no car zones outside schools.
For example in Hackney five primary schools have been selected to take part in a pilot which uses automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to identify vehicles driving along the street.
Vehicles are only allowed to enter the street between the peak times if they have an exemption such as being a resident living or working in a school street zone, a business in a school street zone, or a blue badge holder.
Anyone caught by the camera would then be issued with a fixed penalty notice.
Cllr Combley said she had been talking to highways officers at the council about introducing no driving zones around schools.
“There are plenty of pilots taking place around the country and I would like to see Bristol be a part of that,” she added.
“Kids having active journeys to school is valuable in so many ways. It’s good for health and good socially as well as combating growing childhood obesity.”