Council steps up drive to make schools safer

Improving child safety was the order of the day as Cheshire East Council continued their crackdown on poor parking at schools this yesterday.

In partnership with Cheshire Police – who provided a police community support officer to support the activity – Cheshire East sent two civil enforcement officers to The Quinta Primary School to educate parents and guardians on parking safely near the school.

Appropriate parking outside schools has been an ongoing problem nationally for some time but Cheshire East is addressing the issue head on.

Some of the issues that schools face from inconsiderate drivers whose actions threaten the lives of children are parking:

· On double yellow lines;

· On school ‘keep clear’ road markings;

· On pavements, causing obstruction;

· On zigzag markings and pedestrian crossings;

· Across school gates; and

· Across neighbouring private driveways

Traffic congestion at the beginning and end of the school day is a problem for pupils, teachers, residents and the emergency services. It can cause road accidents and injuries to children and is more likely to occur where there is heavy weight of traffic, with children often emerging from behind parked cars.

Nationally, the journey to and from school accounts for 20 per cent of all child casualties involved in road accidents.

Councillor David Brown, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for highways and infrastructure, said: “The exercise we have carried out at Quinta Primary School is one of many that we are involved with across the borough.

“We have one objective: to protect the safety of residents and specifically schoolchildren as they make their way to and from school. Everything we are doing is geared towards ensuring that travelling to school and back is as safe as possible for everyone.”