School crossing ‘drive through’ reports have quadrupled

Reports of drivers going through school crossings, even when supervisors are trying to stop traffic, in Geelong have quadrupled.

David Neil at the Pakington St school crossing. Picture: Alison Wynd

Reports of school crossing drive-throughs quadrupled in Geelong in the last financial year to hit almost 200, with parents fearing for the safety of their kids going to and from school

A drive through can involve a motorist going through the crossing when the supervisor has their stop sign out, is on the crossing, or there are other people on the crossing, and council says the surge is due to increased awareness among supervisors.

Crossing supervisor David Neil works outside Chilwell Primary School on a busy stretch of Pakington St, and said in the past 12 months he reported 66.

The road had one of the highest number reports for the year along with Kensington Rd, Leopold; Heyers Rd, Grovedale; and Yarra St, South Geelong.

“I’m so surprised no one has got hurt here, touch wood,” he said.

Mr Neil said the worst he’d seen was three drive-throughs in one morning.

“I couldn’t believe it ... it’s getting worse,” he said.

David Neil at the Pakington St school crossing with Chilwell student Edie, 8. Picture: Alison Wynd

Chilwell Primary School parent Nicole said cars sped down that section of Pakington St all the time, and she had seen cars race through the crossing a few times.

Her eight-year-old daughter, Edie, said Mr Neil had even stopped her from crossing the road one day while a car drove through the crossing.

“One day when David had his sign out the car kept going but he stopped us,” Edie said.

In the 2021–22 financial year, the city received just 20 reports of drive throughs from crossing supervisors, when movement was more limited due to Covid rules.

In 2022–23 there were 85 drive throughs reported.

By last financial year, the drive throughs reported by supervisors had jumped to 196.

Acting executive director city life Pam Newton said the increased reports across council’s 189 crossings was because supervisors were more aware of the importance of reporting these incidents.

She said high drive-through incidence crossings were reported to Victoria Police who regularly patrolled these crossings amd referred to the civil infrastructure team who review and updated line markings, crossing posts and signage.

She said council was trialling three initiatives to reduce drive throughs, including flashing red LED lights on supervisor’s stop bats, speed awareness monitors alerting drivers exceeding the 40 km/h speed limit and providing yearly refresher training for all crossing supervisors, with positive results so far.

“No major injuries have resulted from drive throughs,” she said.

“In early 2023, a school crossing supervisor lost their footing and tripped when getting out of the way of a drive through vehicle and was treated with first aid only.”

Acting Sergeant Emma Faliszewski said police regularly enforced school zone limitsand were on the lookout for a range of offences, including speeding, using a mobile device while driving and failing to stop at a pedestrian crossing.

“Each of us needs to do all we can to make sure children are safe around roads, particularly when travelling to and from school,” she said.

Originally published as School crossing ‘drive through’ reports have quadrupled