More demerits not an answer

IS IT time for an increase in driver demerit points for speeding drivers around schools

IS IT time for an increase in driver demerit points for speeding drivers around schools?

Harold Scruby, chairman and chief executive officer of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, thinks it is. Harold is no stranger to the issue of speed limits in the Territory.

He was highly critical of the Territory when its speed limits were changed to include an open limit on a 200km section of road heading north outside Alice Springs. It was also he who ran the successful campaign in advocating and implementing the first 40km/h School Zone on a main road in Australia, (Middle Harbour School, Cremorne) in June 1995.

The Territory adopted the 40km/h school speed zone and is being hailed by Scruby as the best in the nation when it comes to trying to make it safer for students during school days. Whether or not increasing demerit points is needed in the Territory is debatable. Certainly there are already hefty penalties in place for those who drive too fast through school zones.

If anything, more targeted policing around peak periods in school zones would be preferable. Rarely do you see speed monitoring vans near school zones during these times. You are more likely to see a speed van off-peak mid-morning or early afternoon when people are going about their normal daily activities and their minds are not on school zones.

This paper is not a supporter of increased demerit points. Instead we are keenly awaiting the Territory Government’s development of its new Road Safety Action Plan. The Towards Zero plan will set a new direction for road safety in the Territory. Vision Zero has been widely adopted across Australia.

We are all for looking forward and creating strategies to take road safety to new levels and protect more lives.