Police are extending their tough ticketing campaign this year to cover kindergartens, play centres, pre-schools and Kohanga Reo facilities.
This is intended to make roads near schools safe for children.
A police speed camera.
Drivers travelling at more than 54km/h within 250 metres of a school boundary will be issued with a speeding ticket – unless there are exceptional reasons not to do so.
Drivers travelling over 50km/h and below 54km/h will be stopped and warned.
The time periods for school zone speed reductions are also extended until the end of February with speeders liable to be ticketed between 7.30am and 6pm on school days.
Nationally, since 2002, police say more than 900 child pedestrians have been struck by motor vehicles during school terms.
The most vulnerable age group is 11-15 years, with this group making up 44 per cent of child casualties aged 5-18 years.
Police say at 50 km/h, it takes 41 metres for a driver to stop a car; this is by the time they react to an unexpected event and brake.
This is based on a motorist driving at 50km/h travelling nearly 20 metres while they're reacting and moving a foot to the brake pedal.
If a child was 20m from the car, the vehicle would still be travelling at close to 50km/h when the child was struck.
A healthy adult struck at 50km/h has about a 40 per cent chance of being killed – for a child, the odds are much worse.
A child struck by a vehicle travelling at 60km/h has only a 15 per cent chance of survival. When the impact speed is reduced to 50km/h, survival odds increase to 55 per cent.
3 comments
School Speeds
Posted on 07-02-2012 15:23 | By School Speeds
To think that all it would take is to lower the speed limit outside schools nationally to a proven safer 40km/h and make lives safer for school children, but as yet that has not been possible. It is great that the Police are making an effort to warn drivers of the dangers facing children every day on roads outside schools. When are being killed at 50km/h+ why doesn't the Transport Minister bring in a law that lowers the speed limit outside schools during buys times to 40km/h, like they do in most countries. As it is there are still rural schools with 100km/h speed limits, so if a child has little chance of survival at 50km/h imagine what a mess that would be when a child is hit. I have been lobbying for a National Speed Limit of 40km/h for some years now, but with no success as yet. All it would take is the introduction of a law that protects our children when they are at their most distracted, with a National School Speed Limit of 40km/h or less during busy times. Read more on http://www.facebook.com/pages/NZ-School-Speeds/109007702471189
agree
Posted on 07-02-2012 18:50 | By Capt_Kaveman
but at 50 km/h, it takes 41 metres to stop i dont think so its much less than that, but any how this is also why i hate local bylaws as all schools country wide should be 40kph and during school time not over the holidays like some signs still came on when schools was over
Out of interest..
Posted on 08-02-2012 09:20 | By RawPrawn
...are the Police also extending their education programme this year to cover all children, particularly the 11 - 15 year olds?
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