Students call for a lower speed limit outside Brookby Primary School.

School zones with reduced speed limits are common throughout the country but one local school waits for change. Brookby Primary tells us the reasons why.

Brookby Primary School fronts busy West and Brookby Roads, both with open road, 100km/h speed limits and the school is not happy.

Over the past two years, Brookby Board of Trustees member, Dr Debbie Blake, has followed efforts of others by personally campaigning for reduced and standardised speed limits outside schools. All without success. 

She says while the school has received support from individuals and agencies, including local MP, Dr Paul Hutchison, the Automobile Association and Rural Women NZ, Auckland Transport has proven to be a roadblock to her initiatives.

“It’s been very frustrating. It’s not going to kill a motorist to slow to 40km/h for 20 seconds as they pass a school, but if they don’t and they hit a child it’s going to kill the child.

“We’ve had a lot of correspondence concerning this issue in the last three years. It takes up about 60% of my time, just campaigning to have the speed limit reduced. Auckland Transport has the authority to change the limit straight off but it won’t.”

In a recent email, Auckland Transport outlined its position regarding Brookby Primary School:

“Due to the high number of schools in the region awaiting the implementation of 40km/h school speed zone and active school warning signs, it has been necessary to design a prioritisation…. based on the overall results of our assessment, we are unfortunately unable to proceed with your [Brookby’s] request for a 40km/h school speed zone at this time.”

Ironically, one reason Auckland Transport gives for Brookby’s low priority status is that active school warning signs were installed this year as a result of Debbie’s campaign.

Activated from the school office, from 8.25am-9.05am and from 2.50pm-3.05pm, the signs warn motorists of the nearby school. However, no speed limit is posted.

“Council monitored this area after signs were installed. The average speed was 65km/h, which they thought was good because it showed a reduction. But, if a child is hit at that speed they’re barely going to survive,” Debbie says. “Motorists are confused; they see the signs and wonder how fast they should be going. We did see a big reduction in speed initially but we barely notice the difference now.”

School principal, Lyn Gordon says Auckland Transport’s delay in addressing the issue has been attributed in part to the lack of fatalities or serious accidents involving children from the school.

“Everybody has a story of a close shave. But, as we haven’t had any fatalities, it seems, as far as the council’s concerned, they don’t need to prevent anyone from dying!”

Debbie says the school is also on the main arterial route from the Brookby Quarry which adds to the danger – the quarry has approval for up to 360 truck movements per day.

“While cars may travel at faster speeds, if a child is hit by a truck, even at 65km/h it’s fatal for sure.”

Currently, there is no national standard for speed limits surrounding schools. Debbie is adamant a national standard should be in place.

“Then motorists would know what they’re doing. With this ridiculous business in our district, you can drive through three different school zones with three different speed limits!”

Representatives from Auckland Transport were due to visit Brookby School on Monday, November 21 to assess the school’s lack of parking in relation to this issue.

“We hope they will at last consider us to be a priority and implement a 40km/h zone for the safety of children in our community,” says Debbie.

Auckland Transport and the Ministry of Transport were contacted regarding this issue, however no reply was forthcoming before this article was sent to press.

Lives are at risk when Bombay school children cross the busy road outside their school.

Speed zone to save lives

Brookby Primary School’s push for a reduction in their local speed limit has the support of Bombay Primary School Principal, Barrie Duckworth.

“I sympathise with them. I’ve been campaigning to have a 50km/h speed limit past my school reduced. I can understand why they would not want a 100km/h limit,” says Mr Duckworth, who is delighted that Auckland Transport has recently confirmed funding for a 40km/h school zone (reduced from 50km/h at certain times) near his school.

“We’re thrilled to bits… we no longer feel like we’re the ambulance waiting at the bottom of the cliff. It’s wonderful progress. We’re lucky; it’s a win and we have what we wanted.”

Auckland Transport confirmed the implementation of the school speed zone in the 2011/2012 financial year in a recent email.

New signs, displaying the variable 40km/h limit, will be activated 35 minutes before the start of school, 20 minutes at the end, and 10 minutes at any time when at least 50 children cross the road or exit vehicles at the roadside.

As Bombay School is sited on a steep incline on Paparata Road, Mr Duckworth says the biggest road safety issue relates to the speed of the traffic downhill.

“There have been no fatalities outside the school, but we’ve had many close shaves.”

The good news follows approximately two years of campaigning. Mr Duckworth believes a standardised speed limit, with uniform signage, for school zones nationwide would save time and money.

“Why isn’t there an automatic requirement for a 40km/h zone outside every school, regardless of whether there are flashing lights?”

Calls for flashing signs for school buses

Trialling of illuminated 20km/h signs for school buses has been recommended in a new report from Transport Engineering Research New Zealand (TERNZ).

The recommendation includes the fitting of the signs to 50 buses in one area, and the implementation of a campaign to raise driver awareness of the lower speed limit when passing school buses.  

The report follows an accident involving a logging truck and school bus in Ruatoki in September, resulting in injuries to 36 children.

National President of Rural Women New Zealand, Liz Evans, says the report is encouraging.

“Flashing 20km/h signs have a significant effect on reducing traffic speed around school buses. We’d like to see these signs approved by the New Zealand Transport Agency so we can have them on all school buses.

“The signs are vital to increasing the visibility of school buses and reminding drivers of the speed limit when passing.”

She says rural children are particularly vulnerable when drivers fail to slow – 23 children have been killed crossing the road to or from school buses in the past 23 years.

Rural Women New Zealand recently held a stakeholder forum in Wellington, where TERNZ presented the results of its research.

The signs recommended by TERNZ are to be mounted on the front and rear of buses and carry a $422 price tag, plus installation costs.