Better safety measures needed near scores of Vic schools: See list of worst roads

More pedestrian crossings, 40km/hr zones, traffic lights, barriers and speed cameras are needed near scores of Victorian schools, with the Auburn South Primary crash tragedy highlighting potential dangers.

Renewed calls to improve road safety measures around Victorian schools have been made following the tragic death of 11-year-old Jack Davey at Auburn South Primary School.

More pedestrian crossings, 40km/hr zones, traffic lights, safety barriers and speed cameras are “desperately” needed outside dozens of schools in areas such as Ringwood, Kew, Essendon, Truganina, Mentone, Bellbrae, Broadmeadows and Mitcham.

Many are sites of repeat and recent accidents involving school parents and children despite repeated warnings.

Around 100 children are injured each year in school zones and seven are killed on the roads each year on average, Victorian Transport Accident Commission data shows.

Road accidents are the leading cause of accidental death of kids aged up to 14.

It comes as a 2024 state government inquiry into the impact of road safety on vulnerable road users, including schoolchildren, recommended more 30km/hr zones on suburban streets, broader footpaths and more pedestrian crossings.

Schools roads identified as unsafe in the inquiry include Murray Rd near Coburg Primary and Coburg High, where a car recently crashed into a bus stop, Grahamvale Primary School in Shepparton and Booran Rd near Glen Eira College.

In some areas, up to 83 per cent of parents drive their children to school, fearing for their safety as pedestrians and cyclists. However, the inquiry found this was leading to more congestion and unsafe driving.

Glen Eira College students cross the road outside their school. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

State politicians have been raising concerns about some schools for many years.

Calls for an upgrade to the school crossing outside Kialla West Primary School, which was the site of a serious accident, have been made 22 times in parliament by Liberal MP Wendy Lovell. Ms Lovell said a parent told her recently that “it is increasingly evident that the measures in place at the crossing are insufficient to ensure the safety of the students and the school community”.

Labor MP Natalie Hutchins, a former Education Minister, highlighted issues at Becca Dve and Lancefield Ave, Caroline Springs, saying that the school day “begins and ends with a fear for children’s safety due to a lack of traffic management and poor planning at the drop-off and pick-up zones in this area”.

An intersection near Mullum Primary and Norwood Secondary College in Ringwood have also been raised by Liberal MP Nick McGowan.

“There are numerous incidents that have happened over the years, including a car in someone’s front yard,” he said.

A car crashed through a fence at Auburn South Primary School in Hawthorn East, killing a student. Picture: 7NEWS

The devastating scene at Auburn South Primary School Picture: Mohammad Alfares

11-year-old Jack Davey, who was killed when a car ploughed into Auburn South Primary School. Picture: Supplied

Education Opposition spokeswoman Jess Wilson has raised a number of unsafe roads and called for a pedestrian crossing on Barkers Rd near a number of Kew schools.

“Unfortunately, we have actually seen very recently a near miss at that strip of road when we saw a car crash into a local cafe and just very closely miss a young mum with her pram and two children,” Ms Wilson said.

She also called for all the recommendations of the state inquiry into road safety to be implemented.

The RACV’s list of top 20 dangerous rural roads identified an intersection in Premier Jacinta Allan’s Bendigo electorate near Epsom Primary School as the site of multiple accidents leading to hospitalisations.

The accident at Auburn South Primary also prompted many parents to share their concerns about the dangerous driving and road safety issues around their children's schools.

One noted in an online forum: “The way people, particularly parents, drive around schools is astounding and terrifying. Not a day goes by without cars illegally parked blocking visibility at crossings, doing dangerous manoeuvres so they don’t have to wait, suddenly changing their minds and swerving in a different direction with no indicators or checking for kids.”