Pupils stage street demo over speeds (From thisisoxfordshire)
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Pupils stage street demo over speeds
1:00pm Saturday 27th November 2010 in News
By Rhianne Pope
Ella Gray, eight, hopes drivers outside Windmill Primary School, Oxford, get the message about speed
PUPILS across Oxfordshire have been urging drivers to slow down to help cut deaths on the roads.
Children set out to raise awareness of the hazards of speeding near schools and to get motorists to slow down to 20mph as part of activities for the Schools National Brake Road Safety Week, which ended last night.
According to the charity Brake, as many as one in 10 children in the region have been knocked down while walking or cycling, and half of all youngsters have narrowly avoided incidents on the roads.
Among those taking part were pupils at Windmill Primary School, in Headington, Oxford, where children raised placards reminding drivers of the stopping distances of cars.
The school is now situated in a 20mph zone, which headteacher Lynn Knapp said had made a big difference.
She said: “We’re incredibly fortunate to have a 20mph zone outside. Before it was introduced we were desperately worried about the threat of traffic to the children’s safety.
“Most schools are not as fortunate, and of course many of our pupils live on roads where fast traffic stops them getting out and about safely.
“That’s why we backed the campaign, and are calling on drivers to slow down to 20mph on all roads where there are homes, schools and community facilities.”
In Abingdon, pupils were also encouraging drivers to slow down, with a banner and cardboard speed cameras.
Pupils at Carswell Community Primary School took to Ock Street to urge drivers not to speed. Headteacher Sue Gore said drivers tooted their horns in support, but children were shocked to see a motorbike drive past at 50mph.
“I don’t think people realise there is a school set back off the main road,” she said. “We haven’t had any accidents, but we have had a couple of near misses.
“Touch wood, we haven’t had anything happen but there only has to be one accident.”
Council road safety officer Julie Jones said: “We need to get drivers to slow down, particularly on the school run when children will be walking and cycling.”
She said many drivers do not intend to speed and find their speed creeping up.
Julie Townsend, campaigns director at Brake, said: “It is unacceptable that so many children die and suffer appalling injuries on our roads.
“All drivers have a part to play in making our roads safer for children, and one of the best ways we can do this is to slow down to 20mph or below around schools and homes.
“Local children understand the need for traffic to slow down, and are appealing to drivers to make this simple commitment during Road Safety Week.”
Comments(22)
Andrew:Oxford
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1:23pm Sat 27 Nov 10
multitask
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1:37pm Sat 27 Nov 10
cwadid
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1:45pm Sat 27 Nov 10
Gotafeeling
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2:20pm Sat 27 Nov 10
Peterr Mcvey
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4:15pm Sat 27 Nov 10
Gotafeeling wrote:Quite right. Teach the kids how to cross the road, not to hate car drivers. By doing this all they are doing is giving the kids a false sense of security, and not teaching them that roads are not a playground.
When I was a kid we had road safety drummed into us at school (anyone remember that squirrel- Tufty?) the idea was to encourage us to take care when crossing the road. I'm not trying to absolve car drivers from responsibility here but if everyone who was crossing the road followed the green cross code (Dave Prowse as the Green cross code man- another memory!) then there wouldn't be any accidents at all. The speed of the vehicle is only relevant if it actually hits someone, surely it's better to avoid that happening in the first place??? These kids would be better off learning how to cross safely rather than standing outside in the freezing cold distracting motorists.
Ceasar
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8:43pm Sat 27 Nov 10
calfox3
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2:20am Sun 28 Nov 10
STOP. LOOK. LISTEN.
its that simple.
most driver are too destracted by all the other kids messing about by the road to notice the one thats run out in front of them.
the teachers need re-training too.
as the amount of times i have seen them cross the road outside the charwell school insted of using the underpass provided. they need to set an example too!!!
calfox3
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2:21am Sun 28 Nov 10
STOP. LOOK. LISTEN.
its that simple.
most driver are too destracted by all the other kids messing about by the road to notice the one thats run out in front of them.
the teachers need re-training too.
as the amount of times i have seen them cross the road outside the charwell school insted of using the underpass provided. they need to set an example too!!!
Danny A
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9:17am Sun 28 Nov 10
For example in work places such as mine there is now rightly legislation when dangerous equipment is being operated. The responsibility is clearly described to the operator not to any unconcerned passers by. I find it amazing that on leaving the work place it should be the responsibility of the vulnerable outside the dangerous equipment (my car) to keep out of my way. Times have changed since the days of Dave Prowse, numbers of kids walking to school have plummeted and numbers of car school runs have rocketed. Continued shifting of responsibility away from the folk inside the cars will only make things worse.
Gotafeeling
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11:07am Sun 28 Nov 10
Danny A wrote:In my post I specifically said that car drivers shouldn't be absolved of responsibility here but the bottom line is that ALL road users, including those who are crossing it need to be aware of what's around them. No one should think it is someone else's responsibility to keep them safe. We would see numbers of road accidents rocket if people assume that a car won't hit them and therefore they don't need to take care. Your argument doesn't really make sense. There is a good reason why people are advised not to cross train lines for instance- are you also advocating that train drivers should slow down to a crawl to allow people the freedom to cross the tracks?
A civilized society does not shift the responsibility of personal safety from the threat, to the vulnerable victim. For example in work places such as mine there is now rightly legislation when dangerous equipment is being operated. The responsibility is clearly described to the operator not to any unconcerned passers by. I find it amazing that on leaving the work place it should be the responsibility of the vulnerable outside the dangerous equipment (my car) to keep out of my way. Times have changed since the days of Dave Prowse, numbers of kids walking to school have plummeted and numbers of car school runs have rocketed. Continued shifting of responsibility away from the folk inside the cars will only make things worse.
Floflo
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11:17am Sun 28 Nov 10
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There are plenty of children that have been killed on the way to school where the driver is not technically at fault. But rather than blaming the dead child far better to be extra cautious near a school.
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No matter how much you teach road safety people make mistakes. In particular children make mistakes. For this reason I struggle to understand why so many people seem to reject the message that you should slow down and pay extra attention near schools.
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If people drove with more respect for the safety of others, particularly near schools it would not be necessary to do campaigns of this nature.
multitask
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11:53am Sun 28 Nov 10
Floflo wrote:Floflo - No one is refusing or shifting responsibility the original cause for concern in this article is it is implying that they are using young children to do an adults job and also not wearing suitable clothing for the task! it is NOT part of the curriculum to place children on the edge of a road during school hours waving a homemade sign that may put them in even further danger and also could distract a motorist travelling even at a very low speed to lose control, the kids are safer being in the school and let the local authorities or suitably trained adults carry out this task.
Agreed that children need to be taught road sense but it saddens me that so many posting here seem to refuse accept that they have a responsibility for the safety of others - particularly children.
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There are plenty of children that have been killed on the way to school where the driver is not technically at fault. But rather than blaming the dead child far better to be extra cautious near a school.
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No matter how much you teach road safety people make mistakes. In particular children make mistakes. For this reason I struggle to understand why so many people seem to reject the message that you should slow down and pay extra attention near schools.
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If people drove with more respect for the safety of others, particularly near schools it would not be necessary to do campaigns of this nature.
Danny A
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1:58pm Sun 28 Nov 10
multitask
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2:25pm Sun 28 Nov 10
calfox3
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2:33pm Sun 28 Nov 10
in cases where young children that may not understand. it is the adults in charge that has the responsibility of that childs road safety.
a few weeks a go i almost hit a child outside cheney school because i was watching the kids playing chicken outside the school gate. (waiting for a car the sticking their foot out to make them brake because they though it was funny)
how ever because of this i didnt notice the child from the other side of the road run out.
i am only human and as such i can only look in one direction at a time.
had i have hit that child i would not have been because of the speed i would have be down to the stupidity of "other road users" but i would have still got the blame.
you may argue that i should have been looking the other way to. but as i said i can only look one way at a time. and that was at the place i thought was more of a hazard.
Danny A
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3:12pm Sun 28 Nov 10
multitask wrote:No. The message I am sending to kids is when you become a driver be a safe and responsible one. Because when you are behind the wheel, unlike when you are out walking, you have the potential to do others a great deal of harm.
Danny A - "I think a driver should carry more of the burden of road safety than the pedestrian because of the gross disparity in threat" with a statement like that your giving kids the wrong message to just step out into the road with no worries the car will take avoiding action, mind you most of them do that already! The highway code applies to all road users including informatiopn for pedestrians, I can only assume you haven't read it or possibly don't drive.
I think it is wrong that some people feel rather than themselves reduce the risk by slowing from 30 to 20 its up to the kids to reduce the risk by keeping out of the way.
Floflo
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4:06pm Sun 28 Nov 10
calfox3 wrote:I think you sum it up well. Children can be unpredictable and especially near a school where you don't notice everything that is going on around you unless you slow down. If you were a less careful driver or going faster your story could have a very different ending.
it is the job of ALL road users to be safe. be it driver, rider or just walking.
in cases where young children that may not understand. it is the adults in charge that has the responsibility of that childs road safety.
a few weeks a go i almost hit a child outside cheney school because i was watching the kids playing chicken outside the school gate. (waiting for a car the sticking their foot out to make them brake because they though it was funny)
how ever because of this i didnt notice the child from the other side of the road run out.
i am only human and as such i can only look in one direction at a time.
had i have hit that child i would not have been because of the speed i would have be down to the stupidity of "other road users" but i would have still got the blame.
you may argue that i should have been looking the other way to. but as i said i can only look one way at a time. and that was at the place i thought was more of a hazard.
JillyJ
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5:57pm Sun 28 Nov 10
Unless we make our streets safer for pedestrians, more & more parents will drive their children to school & children have less & less experience of walking/crossing the street.
20 is plenty!
Major County
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10:32am Mon 29 Nov 10
Anyone driving irresponsibly in areas where there are children about are idiots and should be dealt with accordingly. Children waving placards at them will make no difference to their driving behaviour whatsoever.
Major County
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1:38pm Mon 29 Nov 10
Sue, don't be naive - the motorists were probably hitting their horns out of irritation, did you notice that this was accompanied by them giving V for Victory signs - but round the wrong way!
And Sue - why the shock about motor bikers breaking the speed limit, you're lucky the rider didn't finish off with a few wheelies.
sparky123456
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6:35pm Wed 1 Dec 10
Andrew:Oxford says...
1:16pm Sat 27 Nov 10