School parking zones help ease parents’ safety fears and unclog streets

A GROWING number of schools are solving the morning and afternoon traffic chaos by building “kiss and drop” zones.

• School-run motorists who flaunt rules and risk big fines
• Police get set for school zone blitz
• Council takes hard line on parking parents

A GROWING number of schools are solving the morning and afternoon traffic chaos by building “kiss and drop” zones on their grounds.

Last week The Saturday Telegraph revealed the extent of the safety problem, with a record number of motorists booked for dangerous driving near schools.

Principals across the state have sent warnings home about the issue. Now some schools are drawing up plans to re-engineer driveways to make designated drop-off and pick-up only zones.

Kerry Rienecker from Seaforth drops son Hugo Bryant off at St Augustine's College in Brookvale. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Centre for Road Safety executive director Bernard Carlon said 19 school-aged pedestrians were injured in school zones during 2014, the latest figures available.

He said that was an improvement on the average 51 children injured before 40km/h school zones were introduced

“School zones are safer but we need to be vigilant,” he said. “Drivers need to stick to the speed limit and avoid other behaviours that put kids at risk.

For busy mum Kerry Rienecker, the newly constructed internal driveway at St Augustine’s College at Manly has made life a whole lot easier.

“It’s a vast improvement,” she said, adding it is now quicker to get to work in the city on time after dropping off son Hugo, 10.

And the afternoon pick up was “far less stressful” than last year, when she had to park streets away and worry about being booked.

“I’ve used other kiss and drop zones but this one is very efficient with a separate exit and entrance, so there’s no one reversing unexpectedly, or people double parking. It makes a lot of sense.”

Head of school Matthew Hutchison said the changes had worked well. “It’s a lot more co-ordinated, with a supervisor there, and it has improved safety,” he said.

At Merrylands East Public School, principal John Goh has changed class hours — students start at 7.30am and finish at 1.15pm and there is no final bell, meaning students don’t leave en masse — to reduce traffic problems. The RMS has even changed the school’s safety zone times to 12.30pm till 2pm.