School speed sign catches drivers

THE majority of motorists clocked driving through a busy Coffs Harbour school zone did the right thing but of course, there were the usual exceptions.

THE majority of motorists clocked driving through a busy Coffs Harbour school zone did the right thing but of course, there were the usual exceptions.

For the first week back to school, Coffs Harbour City Council erected a mobile electronic speed sign/radar on Harbour Dr outside Coffs Harbour Public School on Wednesday to get a true picture of driving trends.

During the morning school zone, 8am to 9.30am, a total of 691 vehicles were monitored and 132 vehicles or 19% were clocked at speeds over 45km/h.

Then during the 2.30pm to 4pm afternoon rush, 923 vehicles were counted and 206 or 22% were found to be speeding.

The council's transport and road safety officer, Anne Shearer, said the radar and speed sign was placed along Harbour Dr as a reminder to motorists to check their speeds in school zones now that the term had started.

“We will be targeting other school zones over the next couple of weeks as a continuing reminder,” Ms Shearer said.

“Council uses the radar signs for courtesy speed checks but we also collect data which we share with the police to help ensure compliance with speed zones, which ultimately will help cut the number of crashes or other accidents.

“Statistics show us that the chances of a pedestrian surviving a collision decreases rapidly over 30km/h and drivers should be aware that children are unpredictable, fast moving, hard to spot and sometimes appear from behind parked cars.

“People may be surprised to learn that their peripheral vision doesn't fully develop until they're about 10 years old.”

Originally published as School speed sign catches drivers