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.

• If you would like more information about the campaign, call Council Cycling and Pedestrian Planner Michael Thomson on 941 8950.