New signs have been installed on school buses - four in Wanaka and 12 in Queenstown - which, when folded down, carry the traditional ``School'' text along with a ``20km when stopped'' message.
The initiative was a collaborative effort between the Queenstown Lakes District Council, Go Bus, NZ Police and Rotary Queenstown.
Council school travel plan co-ordinator Kirsty Barr said she was excited to see the rollout of the signs across the district.
``We've been pushing the `Either way it's 20k' campaign for a few years, so it's good to be able to refresh that message as part of the new school bus signs.
``By law, vehicles must slow down to 20kmh on both sides of the road when passing a school bus that has stopped to pick up or drop off children.
``There is good evidence that there is low national compliance and this is a local initiative to address awareness around this issue,'' Ms Hart said.
Queenstown Rotary provided $2000 for the signs, with assistance from the Otago Motor Trust, while Go Bus had agreed to install and maintain the signs on its school bus fleet.
Acting Senior Sergeant Jon Bisset, of Central Lakes, said the police would be making sure motorists obeyed the law.
``Police will be closely monitoring and enforcing the 20kmh limit past school buses to ensure that all of our children are kept safe.''
Given the shorter daylight hours as winter approached, motorists needed to be even more vigilant around school bus stops because children were harder to see in the ``early-morning gloom''.
