Bus comes to Whanganui Intermediate School to teach kids how to share the road

Kelvin Aris shows Lachlan Natusch and Mia Catchpole from Whanganui Intermediate School about bike safety and shows them what the bus driver can see. Photo / Bevan Conley

A campaign to reduce the number of crashes between bicycles and heavy vehicles has visited one of Whanganui’s most central schools.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Share the Road campaign was at Whanganui Intermediate School (WIS) on Tuesday.

The campaign’s cycling development coordinator Kelvin Aris hoped the pupils at WIS would understand the difficulties drivers of heavy vehicles have with seeing cyclists on the road.

“Drivers of heavy vehicles can’t always see them and it’s very easy for us when we don’t know about this to put ourselves in a position where the driver can’t see us,” he said.

He said people should be aware when on a heavy vehicle’s left side as their left side mirror is angled to help the driver see where they are on the road rather than looking behind them.

“There’s a spot where we’re invisible, and if we just happen to be in that spot at the time the driver’s there and they can’t see us, then that’s when we can get ourselves into trouble.”

Motorists were also reminded to slow down to 20km/h an hour while passing a school bus on either side of the road.

WIS deputy principal Nicki Hennessy said Share the Road was important because of where the school was located in the city and the attitude pupils have around safety at an intermediate age.

“At 12 they do feel that they are bulletproof and at times do some silly stuff so anything that we can put in place or we can have at school that helps our students stay safe on the roads, we’re going to grab with both hands,” Hennessy said.

The programme also worked as another way to encourage kids to ride their bikes to school.

“We’d like our kids to be more active, obviously studies show that being active is really good for kids’ brains and good for their development, but our biggest thing is around keeping them safe.”

WIS students Mia Catchpole and Lachlan Natusch both get to school by bike and took part in Share the Road.

They said it had taught them how to be cautious around buses.

“You need to be careful about the buses around you,” Lachlan said.

Mia said: “It’s hard to see, the drivers can’t see you and it’s pretty dangerous.”