Schoolgirl mourned, hubnt still on for truck driver

Calls are being made by principals across Tauranga today to cut the speed limit outside schools as the name of the girl killed near Mount Maunganui College was released as Breeze Matarina Brunton.
The life of a 13-year-old Welcome Bay girl was tragically ended after she was hit by a logging truck as she crossed Maunganui Rd about 8am yesterday.
Questions are now being asked as to how the accident happened and late this morning police were still seeking the truck driver involved.
It has also emerged that up to 42 Tauranga schools are demanding speed zones be established for students' protection.
Yesterday emotions were running high within the school community, with many speculating the speed limit on Maunganui Rd was to blame.
One parent said he would risk arrest to ensure the 70kmh limit was dropped by the end of the week.
Ian Stephenson, who has a 15-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son at Mount College, yesterday told the Bay of Plenty Times, 70kmh was not acceptable.
Mr Stephenson said if the speed outside Mount College was not authorised to be dropped to at least 50kmh by Friday he would personally finance 50kmh signs and put them up himself - even if it meant he got arrested for breaking the law.
He has also started an online petition asking the public to support him.
"When I pick them [my kids] up from school, I think 'have they transferred Baypark stadium down to Mount College'. It is absolute bedlam in the morning and afternoon and they [council] have the gall to let logging trucks use that road."
Police said Breeze, who was in Year 9, was clipped by a truck heading towards Mount Maunganui as she crossed the road . She died on the way to hospital.
The fully laden logging truck did not stop but it was possible the driver may have been unaware he hit her.
Police have not said if speed was a factor in the accident but the tragedy has raised serious concerns.
"I am extremely sorry I haven't spoken out earlier ... I think the parents of the child who was taken from them, would appreciate us doing this," Mr Stephenson said.
Mr Stephenson said there were issues with how speed limits changed from 50kmh to 70 kmh on the stretch of road leading to the college.
Terry Collett, college principal, said there had been problems for years with the 70kmh limit on Maunganui Rd outside the school gates.
Last year, the Bay of Plenty Times highlighted the college's plight when assistant principal Ady van der Beek said students were playing "Russian roulette" to get across Maunganui Rd.
The college had made several submissions to the Tauranga City Council to have the limit brought down to 50kmh but these were unsuccessful. There had also been requests for pedestrian crossings on the road for students to walk safely to school.
"It's a catch-22 really because you can only have pedestrian crossings in 50kmh zones," Mr Collett said.
Hennie Roux, council group manager city transportation, said a speed limit review - outside the college - took place in June 2007.
However, the review did not support a change to the speed limit on Maunganui Rd according to Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) criteria. "Reducing speed is just one of many possible options for improving safety near the school.
"Council staff will work with police, the college and roading authorities to investigate potential changes," he said.
Geoff Opie, president of the Western Bay of Plenty Principals' Association and principal of Otumoetai Primary, is heading a campaign - supported by 42 Tauranga schools - urging both the city council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council to action and implement speed zones around our schools.
He gave a presentation to Tauranga's transport committee a fortnight ago, where he was met by sympathetic ears, but Mr Opie said bureaucracy stood in the way of any immediate action.
Schools - including Mount College - have backed Mr Opie's proposal which asks both councils to follow the lead of Hamilton City Council which has school speed zones "well progressed".
"It is such a shame it may have taken an accident to spur local authorities into action," Mr Opie said yesterday.
In the last five years, more than 1200 child pedestrians have been killed or injured during school terms. In a speed blitz in September last year, police in Tauranga caught 548 speedsters in a week outside eight schools.