Worst school zones for speeding motorists outside some of the city’s most prestigious schools
Some of Sydney’s most prestigious schools are in dangerous school speed zones where motorists have racked up a staggering one fifth of all speeding fines over the past year.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Some of Sydney’s most prestigious schools are in dangerous school speed zones where motorists have racked up a staggering one fifth of all speeding fines over the past year, it can be revealed.
The worst school zones for speeding motorists include those outside Holy Cross College Ryde, Randwick Boys and Girls Schools, La Salle College, Knox Grammar and Sydney Boys High and Sydney Girls High.
In the last financial year to July, there were 199,851 fines issued to speeding drivers across the 38 school zones where there are fixed cameras from Ourimbah on the Central Coast to Wollongong, totalling $49,796,598.
Overall, there were 1,251,239 fines totalling $237,590,195 from all fixed speed cameras across the state in that time.
Long-time road safety campaigner Harold Scruby said the figures were alarming.
“How many times have we asked drivers to slow down?” Mr Scruby said yesterday.
There were $3,325,945 in fines handed out to 14,735 speeding drivers outside Holy Cross College Ryde and St Charles School Ryde in the last financial year. In July 2022 lone, 614 motorists were pinged with fines totalling $195,046.
The second worst were the zones outside Bankstown North Public School and La Salle Catholic School where 11,391 fines issued for $2,691,318. In July 2022, 497 fines issued for $173,608.
Mr Scruby said the shocking statistics should focus government attention on the 99 per cent, or over 3000 schools, where there are no speed cameras to deter drivers.
The head of the Pedestrian Council, he has called on the government to act on a 2010 report by the Auditor-General which called for mobile speed cameras to be rotated across school zones where there were no fixed cameras.
“If there are that many people speeding in school zones where there are fixed cameras, then how many people are speeding in zones without cameras?” Mr Scruby, who successfully campaigned to get the first school zones on a multi-lane road in 1995, said.
Transport for NSW said school zone are one of the safest areas of the road network. Child pedestrian casualties in an active school zone have fallen from around 50 per year prior to 2001, to around 20 per year in 2021.
It said the government has announced an extra $18.5 million to provide 300 new school crossing supervisors “offering more protection for children and improved visibility of crossings for motorists”.
A spokeserson for Transport for NSW said that “in future” mobile speed cameras may be used in school zones where they would not cause problems due to congestion where children are being dropped off or picked up as well where there s significant pedestrian traffic.
A spokesperson for the office of roads minister Natalie Ward said: “Making our local roads as safe as possible for pedestrians and motorists is an absolute priority for the government, however the implementation of speed limits and speed cameras is based on advice from Transport for NSW.”
THE SIX MOST HAZARDOUS SCHOOL ZONES
Randwick Boys High School. Randwick Girls High School
2021 - 2022 financial year. 16,024 fines issued for $2,831,094.
July 2022: 924 fines issued for $220,791.
Bankstown North Public School. La Salle Catholic School
2021 - 2022 financial year. 11,391 fines issued for $2,691,318.
July 2022: 497 fines issued for $173,608.
Sydney Boys High School. Sydney Girls High School. Moore Park
2021 - 2022 financial year. 15,853 fines issued for $2,560,043.
July 2022: 1047 fines issued for $237,484.
Lindfield Primary School
2021 - 2022 financial year. 9,373 fines issued for $2,098,223.
July 2022: 449 fines issued for $146,293.
All Saints Catholic Primary School. All Saints Catholic Girls College. All Saints Catholic Boys College, Liverpool
2021 - 2022 financial year. 11,276 fines issued for $2,001,153.
July 2022: 2971 fines issued for $625,378.
Warrawee Public School. Knox Grammar. Abbotsleigh Senior
2021 - 2022 financial year. 11,321 fines issued for $2.067,939
July 2022: 635 fines issued for $170,067.
Fugitive Nassif owes $1.9bn as Toplace records handed to ICAC
Creditors care claiming fugitive property developer Jean Nassif’s Toplace owes them a huge sum – as it can finally be confirmed the NSW ICAC and NSW Crime Commission are investigating the wanted man.
Prison guard first alleged DV offender to wear bail monitor
A NSW prison guard has become the first alleged domestic violence offender ordered to wear an ankle monitor while on bail – following the introduction of new laws the same day.