Jo Raphael: Speed limits outside schools need to be reduced - now

Speed limits around schools need to come down, writes Jo Raphael. Photo / File

OPINION:

It's not a stretch to say that the safety of our children, especially on or near roads, is paramount.

Which is why in June last year, a group of enterprising pupils from Lake Rerewhakaaitu School, who clearly felt the same way, asked the Rotorua Lakes Council's strategy, policy and finance committee to support the lowering of the speed limit through the village from 70km/h to 50km/h.

They also asked for a 40km/h speed limit outside their school during school hours.

This sounds like a reasonable request.

The pupils, to their credit, did the legwork themselves. They counted cars and made calculations.

"There are many concerning numbers. Room 2, made up of 7 to 8-year-olds, have -1.26 seconds of buffer on the road with a car going 50km/h. This is highly concerning," one pupil told the council committee at the time.

The council, at the time, were impressed with the children's efforts – enough to recommend to the full council that staff do a comprehensive road safety review including assessing posted speed limits around all rural schools.

So why, almost 18 months later, do we not have a result?

I understand the wheels of bureaucracy turn far more slowly than those that zoom past schools on a daily basis, but, as principal Rick Whalley points out, does a child have to die before we see more urgency?

This week we reported that the school's principal, Rural Community Board chairwoman Shirley Trumper, Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick and national road safety campaigner Caroline Perry have all called for standardised speed limits outside schools.

This almost happened in November last year when Julie Anne Genter, who was Associate Transport Minister at the time, announced blanket speed limit cuts around schools across the country, but this didn't go far enough.

Under the new rules, a 40km/h speed limit will apply when driving past all urban schools, and 60km/h passing rural schools - although it could take up to 10 years for the changes to be rolled out in some areas.

In my view, 60km/h is still too fast. It needs to be 30km/h - maximum – around all schools, during school hours.

A report presented to the World Health Organisation states that pedestrians have been shown to have a 90 per cent chance of survival when struck by a car travelling at 30km/h or below, but less than 50 per cent chance of surviving an impact at 45km/h. Pedestrians have almost no chance of surviving an impact at 80km/h.

And 10 years? That's about same amount of time for a child to be born, grow up and almost finish primary school.

Bureaucracy - and people driving fast past schools - are the enemy here.

The delay in getting this problem fixed is disgraceful and unacceptable.

The Government must act now.