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When turning at lights respect pedestrians
A new road safety campaign is
under way to encourage drivers to
give way to children at busy
intersections near schools. Warmer weather means more
children walk to school at this
time of year. The campaign is a
joint venture between the City
Council, Police, Environment
Canterbury and the Land Transport Safety
Authority, carried out in the first four weeks of term four. City
schools report ongoing concerns about the fear and intimidation
children experience crossing roads at traffic signals while travelling
to and from school. Joy Kingsbury-Aitken, the City Council’s Schools Coordinator, says
some schools have ongoing crossing supervision by volunteers and
the children carry bright flags to make them more visible when
crossing the road. But while schools continue to push the safety
message to their pupils, there is also a need to raise awareness
among drivers. “Responsible drivers don’t endanger pedestrians,” says Kingsbury-
Aitken. “Always give way. Don’t expect the pedestrian to get out
of the way, because they may not be able to.” Council Cycling and Pedestrian Planner Michael Thomson says
many motorists are concentrating on the traffic and forget to look
for pedestrians, or they see the red flashing light on a crossing and
think that the pedestrian shouldn’t be there. “In fact, the red flashing
person is like the amber traffic light – it means continue to cross
the road if you have begun but don’t commence crossing,” he says. |