One motorist was clocked travelling at 67kmh past St Clair School, Dunedin, yesterday morning and seven other motorists were also issued speeding tickets in a campaign targeting speeding drivers outside schools.
The national two-week campaign started yesterday, as children headed back to school. Any motorist going more than 5kmh over the speed limit within 250m of a school boundary would be ticketed, Southern Highway Patrol team leader Senior Sergeant Steve Larking said.
Both road and operational police, using lasers and speed cameras, were targeting schools throughout the city, he said.
The speed limit past schools was the posted limit, which was usually 50kmh, but when passing a school bus dropping off or picking up passengers the limit is 20kmh.
‘‘The feedback I have had is parents saying it is really good to see the police outside the schools. Most people have been listening to the message to slow down.''
Since 2003, 247 school pupils, aged between 4 and 18, had been killed or injured by motor vehicles during the school term in the Southern district, Snr Sgt Larking said.
Statistics had shown a child who was struck by a vehicle travelling at 60kmh had only a 15% chance of surviving, he said. When the vehicle was moving at 50kmh, the chance of survival went up to 55%, and was 95% for a vehicle travelling at 30kmh.
In other school road safety measures, Dunedin City Council transportation engineer Teresa Matassa said flashing school zone signs, which had been trialled at six different schools around Dunedin, had been successful in reducing traffic speeds at schools where there had been a speeding problem.
Three variable driver feedback signs were also being used at schools around the city, which tell drivers how fast they are going and if they need to slow down. The signs also recorded data which was passed on to police which helped them to identify problem areas, she said.
