Monday, 5 May 2008 - 10:54am |
Canterbury

Speed past schools

1 min read

Speed past schools is on the rise and police are concerned that more children are put in danger.

Inspector Derek Erasmus says that speed around schools is a major public health and safety issue. Police target speed around schools in the first term and injury crashes correspondingly go down, he says.

"We want drivers to always be aware and lower their speed at all times of year not just when they think police might catch them."

The number of crashes within 250 metres of a school tends to peak in the second quarter of the year showing that drivers are letting speed increase when there is not such a focus on reducing it. Canterbury has the highest total of injury crashes in the school zone of any district in the country.

"All drivers need to be aware of how fast they are travelling past schools says Erasmus. "It is surprising who is issued tickets; parents, teachers, and earlier this year even a school principal. They should know better."